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Review | Netflix movie review: Wall to Wall – homeowning is a living nightmare in Korean thriller

Wall to Wall on Netflix explores Korea’s property woes and neighbourly nightmares – but it sadly loses focus with a clichéd mystery element

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Kang Ha-neul in a still from Wall to Wall, directed by Kim Tae-joon. Yeom Hye-ran so-stars. Photo: Young-uk Jeon/Netflix

3/5 stars

The general Hong Kong audience will find the premise of Netflix’s latest Korean thriller Wall to Wall all too relatable.

Kang Ha-neul stars as a professional who buries himself in debt to acquire his dream flat, only to experience an avalanche of grievances from his new neighbours from the moment he moves in.

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Directed by Kim Tae-joon, Wall to Wall, which is titled 84m² in Korean, is a marked improvement on his insipid debut feature, Unlocked, and manages a few pointed jabs at the absurdity of Korea’s property market.

Unfortunately, things begin to unravel as the filmmaker surrenders valuable square footage to more contrived thriller conventions.

Like everyone around him, office drone Wu-song (Kang) strives day and night to scrape together the funds to buy a new flat. After maxing out his loans and withdrawing an advance on his severance plan, he finally has enough to close a deal on 84 square metres (904 square feet) of prime real estate to call his own.

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