소음들

Excruciatingly lonely, Junho contemplates suicide. As he's about to kill himself, a total stranger, Scarlet, unexpectedly visits his home. To stave off his loneliness, Joonho pays Scarlet to spend a few days with him before his death, postponing his suicide and setting in motion a series of ridiculous happenings.

The Noises largely revolves around seemingly trivial events at Joonho's home. Joonho and Scarlet's conversations are often hollow and the games they play to while away the time also seem meaningless. Why does Joonho want to commit suicide? The film does not even delve into the question. Joonho, quite simply, finds himself in dumbfounding, unfair situations. In one scene, he gets scolded for smoking in a non-smoking area and in another he receives an urgent call from his mother living in the US telling him that his father has gone missing. There's also one where emergency paramedics, looking for a pregnant woman, arrive at his home and make use of the rope Joonho intended to use to hang himself. After all the commotion settles down and Scarlet leaves, Joonho calls her and begs her to stay with him. (Busan International Film Festival)