A Girl at My Door (2014) User Reviews

Another genre twister from Korea

[GyatsoLa · 8/10 · 26 March 2015]

I just caught this film at the Dublin Film Festival. I always make a point of seeing any Korean film coming up - I love the way Korean film makers simply defy any notion of genre, they seem to delight in twisting expectations.

This film didn't disappoint. At first, it follows the old plot line of a disgraced police officer, forced out to a dead end town to repair his (or in this case her) reputation. In this case, Young-Nam, a promising officer has been sent to an economically dying coastal town to keep her head down after an apparent scandal as she was outed as having a relationship with another woman. The film heads towards melodrama territory as she reluctantly starts to take care of an abused local girl, the daughter of a man seen by the other officers as too important to the town to take too hard a line with - they are content to hand out endless warnings without actually doing anything to stop him. Young-Nam is clearly unwilling to get too close to the girl, but finds it impossible not to offer her a safe refuge. From here, the film twists unexpectedly into some dark and weird territory as rather predictably, her good deed comes back to haunt her. The film does go into places where most films won't thread, in particular that difficult issue of the innocence or otherwise of abused children. But it is handled very sensitively, without shying away from hard questions.

The film is not perfect - the performances are a little uneven (it looks like many of the minor characters are played by amateurs). Doona Bae is of course the big name in the cast, and she is, as always, a charismatic and powerful presence. She is one of those rare actors who can hold the screen even when showing little outward emotion. In truth, although she is entirely central to the film, the character is not as fleshed out as much as I think she should be - more the scripts fault than the actors I think. She is clearly a deeply unhappy woman, but its not obvious why she rejects the possibility of a happier life with her former lover. There are also some issues with pacing of the film, it seems a little uncertain at times, perhaps not surprising as the director is a first timer (but I have to say, she shows great promise). The film rolls on to a surprisingly (for a Korean film) conventional ending, but there are enough twists and ambiguity to make it quite a satisfying finish.

This was a beautiful and fascinating movie

[Little_Tyke · 8/10 · 20 November 2018]

Contrary to the scathing review which allocated only two stars, I found this film to be beautiful and fascinating. It was the kind of film with a happy ending of sorts, the young girl having (rightly) seen off her father and earlier her grandmother, both of whom had physically abused the girl for it seems like years.

Finally along comes the lesbian new chief of police who helps her escape from her awful predicament, albeit with possible sexual designs on the child of her own, although nothing sexual actually went on between them.

The movie was very clever in laying little traps for the viewer, making one wonder whether anything good would happen. It did! The girl did escape the violent clutches of her father when she turned the tables on him as he lay sleeping off a drunken stupor, an excellent touch.

Finally, we see the chief preparing herself for another relocation and saying goodbye to the girl. But when a fellow police officer, an underling, mentioned in passing that he thought the girl might be a bit of a monster, the chief realised they were made for each other, got him to stop the car, whereupon she ran back to the girl's house as the girl was possibly contemplating suicide on the waterfront.

The chief and the girl drove away in the pouring rain, both free for the time being from their separate demons. Well worth watching!

Who Helps The Helpless

[Foutainoflife · 7/10 · 23 September 2018]

This is a movie about a female police chief who comes across a young girl with an abusive home life. She does what she can to help this girl. For the most part, with the exception of a few dramatic scenes and situations, that is the movie.

The movie wasn't bad it was just really slow in my opinion. I would have liked the young girl's backstory to have had a bit more depth, a relationship could have been better understood but aside from that the story was ok. It was well acted and well shot.

It isn't a bad drama and I thought it ended well. Not a bad watch.

First half good, good performances, worth watching

[Hez1 · 7/10 · 11 August 2014]

The performances of the leads were very good. Bae Doo-na was the draw-card for me, and this the most complex character I have seen her play. The lesbian and immigrant worker sub-plots are interesting. The film didn't shy away from the shock and sensation of Doo-hee's self-harm, but empathised with her as well, an admirable combination. The denouement, staying with the chief, away from her father, was what Doo-hee deserved. Too often damaged characters in film are either not given any agency (they are innocent victims), or are not offered any redemption (they are crazy), but this film is not like that.

However, it does spend time in that clichéd territory. The film is boring after the chief gets locked up for child molestation. It was a predictable plot twist, but really not related to the main emotional action of the film. For the most part the film skillfully balanced exploitation of it's sexual themes with real emotional content, but this sensational hijack of the second half meant that when the ending finally came it felt underdeveloped, even though it was the ending the film needed.

Instead of this waste of time, more could have been put into the underdeveloped sub-plots. What there was of these was well done, but there just wasn't enough. The lesbian plot could stand as it is if the film was just shorter, but the illegal immigrant plot was tacked on. The rest of the film needed to fit around it more. I can't imagine how it could have done this, but it would have made for a much more interesting film.

Overall however, this film is well worth seeing.

No child should be made to suffer cruelty at the hands of parents !!!!

[FilmCriticLalitRao · 7/10 · 21 March 2015]

South Korean film 'A girl at my door' depicts the terrible neglect of a girl child.Before making this film,director July Jung stated that she had no intention whatsoever to talk about social issues like a little girl exposed to violence or the society that lets it happen.The film is able to have profound impact on viewers due to two minor subplots which include racism as well as lesbianism.One gets to see how a drunk father who is also a racist,ill treats his workers.There are hardly any Indians in Korean films.A girl at my door is the first Korean film which talks about the plight of illegal workers from India who have come to South Korea to earn a livelihood.Although there are many false accusations leveled against the police chief but she does not hesitate to help the abused girl.There is no value judgment about lesbianism as it is not depicted as a crime but for many police persons it is a touchy thing especially if a small girl is involved."A girl at my door" focuses on individual and private emotions of a victim and her benefactor.The director firmly believed that there are moments in this film where the audiences can really feel and share feelings of two protagonists.

Imperfect world with tough choices

[annie_geo · 7/10 · 18 January 2017]

The movie is about the policewoman who is dislocated to the small S.Korean town/village after her personal problems (that caused scandal in her professional life) in Seoul.

The town, she settles in, is small; Everybody knows everyone. From the first look, the place looks peaceful with friendly, provincial locals. As she spends some time there, she spots disturbing issues that locals have not problem with. The town is so corrupt and blindsided that even the local police fails to act against it. One of such issues is with the underage girl who is under constant physical and mental abuse from the member of her own family.

So the new cop faces a challenge: do something against the crime, or not? What if doing the right means harming her image and personal life? The story further focuses on her decisions mixed with her personal struggles and problems with past relationships.

The story has plot twists and despite the slow sleep and somewhat mellow vibe, never bore you.

I gave the movie 7/10 and would call it a decent movie unlike my fellow countryman whose review I read about this movie :)

Everybody Needs Love

[john_hugo · 9/10 · 9 June 2015]

Very sad film depicting the brutalization of a helpless child. She desperately latches on to a new authority figure in town a policewoman (Played by the great Doona Bae) to escape her personal hell.

Sae Ron Kim gives an outstanding performance as the troubled girl. So sad because we know this kind of thing goes on all over the world. This is just a Korean version, but could have taken place anywhere.

Doona Bae won the best actress award in the "Asian Film Awards" for her performance, so if you're a fan of hers, it is a solid performance.

There were some minor sub plots, that really did not need to be in the movie, but that is only a minor criticism. I would recommend the film, but not for the faint of heart.

Misery lit on film

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 19 September 2016]

A GIRL AT MY DOOR is a slice of filmed misery lit that comes to us courtesy of South Korea. It's a typically controversial little film from that country, featuring some stand-out performances from the lead characters and a whole lot of bad stuff going on. As is usual for this country's film-making, there's a professional slickness to the production, a real feeling of quality to it, that makes it watchable despite the grimness of the subject matter.

The film reminded me a little of BREATHLESS except this time around it's a little girl who's getting regularly beaten by her father. Incidentally, the girl is played by the cute kid from THE MAN FROM NOWHERE, looking remarkably grown up. The film chronicles her relationship with flawed cop Doona Bae, who must be playing the most damaged and miserable character of her lengthy career. What follows is dark but humanised, with some nice and touching moments in the mix. The ending has some very controversial and unappetising moments that appear to have alienated some reviewers on this site, but it does end in a strong way. A GIRL AT MY DOOR isn't an easy watch, but then nobody said it was going to be.

Just a terrific movie .. not a wasted scene.

[GlennInWinnipeg · 10/10 · 10 February 2015]

What an outstanding movie. The cast .. wow all so strong and believable. The characters that stick with you are the police chief (Doona Bae, what a talent that boosts everyone's performance here I think), the little girl Do-Hee(Sae-ron Kim, perfect performance), and the main protagonist(Hie-jin Jang) is very strong which makes the thing work. I also thought the Indian man's strong performance made that entire part of the story work (comes in about 2/3 into the movie).

You will have to watch it, but the story has so many levels of plot and surprises. When people say it keeps you engrossed from the beginning to the end they are not kidding. Every scene had me thinking and pondering how I have seen this type of thing happen, and also how I have not seen the truth of matters because my perception was being manipulated -- giving in to stereotypes and lies as if they were actually true.

The other aspect is that this is a very quiet film -- even the music is quiet. I was thinking during the credit -- I'm amazed such a quiet movie kept my attention -- but the reason is that the story and people are so darn interesting.

I highly recommend it. I hope it gets some theatre or DVD/BluRay release in Region 1.

I don't know if it's more of a queer movie.

[sininjae · 6/10 · 19 August 2022]

There seems to be a lack of empathy in many ways. At first, I had high expectations because it was a film directed by Lee Chang-dong, but it felt slightly different from his films such as Mint Candy and Oasis. It looks like a kind of absurd play, it looks like a picaresque, and in many ways it makes you feel mysterious. To put it simply, I want to say that it is not a film that is easy to empathize with.

Where's the innocence and who's the victim?

[Reno-Rangan · 8/10 · 17 July 2015]

Good to be back to a Korean movie and this time I'm happy that I picked the right one. A small budget movie produced by the Korean film board and many actors from the project did for the free. A massive victory for a debutante director July Jung after receiving a standing ovation from the audience at Cannes and the positive response from the critics, media and movie buffs around the world. From this you would know that you must not miss the film and I would say the same, but I also apprise you that it ain't masterpiece.

The story follows the police officer Lee Young-nam, who is moving into a quiet small coastal town station to take a charge after the allegation of drinking problem and other personal scandal in the capital city. Her task is to lay low for a while until everything calms down to move back. She succeeds only until a girl knocks her door, metaphorically as what the title say. An unexpected relationship develops, as well seems another trouble is on the approach. Whatever happen from there is the story, especially the second half.

The good thing is this film talk about the root cause of the domestic violence. Like alcohol is one of the major concerns for those. Small intake is okay, but the excessive and addiction is the worry. No matter its the good people or bad according to how they live and what they do, but the point remain same. Here in this story as well all the characters were associated with alcoholism, but differentiated with purpose of life they are in and responsibility. The child abuse, the family who treat their own child badly was the goal to expose for us. And what follows after that was beyond a proper solution. The point it ended and what might happen after that is still a questionable.

"Alcohol is the problem."

The girl was Kim Sae-ron from 'The Man from Nowhere' fame. She's has grown up, a teenager. In the next movie probably would play a heroine. She was very good in the role. The girl with the mentality of when everybody sided her in the society except one who begin to care for her all the sudden, that might unleash the inner evil for having a support and to relocate, but the doubt is she's capable? From the girl's perspective, all are fair and square, but what society and law's take is another arguable angle. So you might know by now, the movie is not about any section of good versus bad people, but the reality of our world/civilization/society and a strategy to stay input/alive in the life between the obstacles we face.

Slow narration, particularly in the first half. Took time to evolve the characters, but still confines the earlier events of each one of them that gave a strong next half. Nobody can know where the story is gonna go, the possibilities are several. I was stunned for the way it ended, especially the last 15 minutes were not typical, but tricky. Even for a real life, this kind of stuffs scares hell out of being an adult for caught between being a villain, but not an (serious/life threatening) offender. I said it because still in many third world countries that is how a child brought up and nobody care including government/law or the neighbours. Its no matter small mischievous thing or not intended to, or you did it. What I'm saying is the example of movies like 'Jagten' and 'In the House'. Anyway, a nice movie with the talented performers. Worth a watch and to suggest those we know.

8/10

Negative...

[BlissQuest · 5/10 · 14 May 2020]

There is soooo much human negativity in this film that it became tiresome and unbearable after about 30 minutes. Fast forwarding here and there didn't help either because I just kept stumbling upon more negativity at each stop. In this so-called twenty-first century of the human experience on this planet, it is simply no longer necessary to make films like this, unless you are some sort of maso fiend. Why? Because thanks to the internet we all get the point!

Imperfect people for a very imperfect world

[shibolleth · 9/10 · 15 August 2020]

A film about a woman and a child, one person is grown up and other is minor. None of them live in a safe world considering for what they are. So, they unwillingly and by the chance become mutually supportive. As it turns up, it's their choice for life. This is a very good film which doesn't follow conventional solutions because life is also unpredictable and can't be lived by book. It also doesn't play by rules of some abstract moral compas, which is good (and brave) choice. Especially when morality which should be on their sides obviously doesn't work for them. But they don't avoid making good choices, it's just they're not great, but are necessary. Yes, this is a film about abused women and betrayal they suffer even when they do their best. Two leading actresses are simply great. And film shows that today's outcasts deserve their chances too. And that's a great thing ...

Is it just about child abuse?

[almardeuse · 9/10 · 27 February 2016]

I agree with other reviewers that this is an excellent , albeit dark, film that is well acted. I don't think that one can ignore the pathology present in the young girl. She manipulated her stepfather's situation with deliberate intent. I think, too, that she was also complicit in here Grandmother's death. She is also manipulating Young-Nam; whose own personality has defects. Donee is responsible; but the pathology is a product of her abuse. So to say Dohee is an innocent bystander; I feel is not wholly accurate. The subplots add to an understanding Young-Nam's personality point toward her strengths and weaknesses.

Sad film that brings up a number of social issues

[qck1 · 9/10 · 10 August 2021]

Brings up issues of how to deal with a battered unhappy child, and what really is right and justice. I have always liked Donna Bae, and she does a great job as a disillusioned senior police officer that had to deal with being a lesbian, dealing with the end of that relationship, and the resulting disgrace. Doona Bae's depressed character now has an alcohol abuse problem. She is sent to an outback village to be the chief of police. She almost immediately runs into this troubled school girl whose mother has left her, and is touched. She keeps running into the girl, and sees the abuse the girl is suffering from her father, grandmother, and other children. This child sees that this police woman is someone that actually cares about her, and attaches to Doona Bae. When the girl arrives at her door one night Doona sees the horrible bruises on the back, and eventually lets the girl stay with her. When she arrests the girl's father for beating another man, the man makes accusations against Doona. Doona is immediately suspected of improper relationship with the girl since she does have the reputation of being a lesbian, and the there are admissions that have to be made by both Doona and the girl that make the situation look suspicious. Doona is arrested and the girl is sent home to be with her father who has been released. She is of course extremely upset about how Doona is being treated and sets up her father to be arrested for sexually abusing her daughter. When questioned the daughter claims that what she said again Doona was what her father told her to say. Doona gets apologies and is realized. Doona realizes that the girl set up her father to be framed, and there are also questions about if the girl was responsible for the death of the grandmother, but is justice served by admitting this to the authorities which would result in the father being released and the girl have to continue to live in a depressing and abusive house. After Doona goes back to meet the girl, she leaves telling the girl that she is leaving her alone. As the other policeman talks with Doona as they drive away, the policeman remarks about how the girl is trouble. I think Doona realizes that if she does not rescue the girl, the things will not turn out well for the girl so returns to find her and take the girl with her.

A sad movie exposing a number of issues in life.

"What have you done?!" - Say it at least once god damn it.

[achi_oragvelidze · 2/10 · 6 February 2015]

This is the first time I'm writing a negative review on IMDb and as you can see, I am terribly disappointed.

This might be one of the worst films I've ever seen in my entire life. A perfect example of an absolute trash. It seems, that the director's biological limitations have rendered him incapable of thinking as a decent human; Someone has to apologize on his behalf, for being dealt such a hand. Sadly, it does not end there. He came up with a terrible idea:

"I'd love to make movies!".

I agree, that I'm compromised enough to be unable to speak objectively over this matter, but some of the facts must be mentioned.

First of all, imagery and technical parts of the film are quite good. Even beautiful I must say. I really liked the part, where the main character buys high amounts of mineral water, only to replace said water with VODKA. (Or whatever you call it.) The scene keeps repeating in a grim way. One of the best portrayals of depressive apathy. It was very inspiring and beautiful.

Presentation is eerie enough to keep you interested and sadly, that might be the worst part of the movie. Story-wise it is so "girl-ish" and compromised, that I swear it was almost unbearable to sit through. Some of the scenes made me feel so awkward, that I could not help myself but think about stopping it. Overly melodramatic, intimate, sick and disgusting relationships which are presented in a sexually curious, but at the same time ruptured teenager's suicidal "emo-vomitting" of a spectrum, were too much for me.

The film tries to set you on an empathetic accord towards the little girl, and in a way it manages to do it, but it is at the cost of spitting you in the face: I guarantee you will feel both awkward and insulted after watching this abomination.

Bae Doona and Sae-Ron Kim were cool/OK. Truth be told, I've never liked Doona. At all. But this time she did really well. Well, at least she was likable for me. Mostly, actors in Korean films are better than average. This case is not an exception. Too bad that the story was so unbearably sick that performances just happen to add up to the horror. Keep in mind, this is not a failure of a film. I am pretty sure that it managed to do what was initially planned, but sadly the planning part is the main atrocity here.

If you want to see an unconventional film, with disgusting and sick characters who's existences are not justified, but rather disfigured in this gigantic mass of stupid sexual awkwardness, sadness and idiotic presentations of "valued empathy"; If you want to see a movie, where subjective ideals of a retarded scriptwriter transform into "undeniable" but at the same time disabled, illogical and irritatingly childish truth; If you want to see a piece, which is atmospherically psychopathic, yet unimaginably blatant and elective, then watch this utter trash.

Though, I wholeheartedly suggest to never even think of viewing this insult of a movie.

a drama thriller in rural Korea

[dromasca · 8/10 · 23 July 2019]

Many of the Korean films defy categorization or combine cinematic genres. I think one of the viewers who contributed to IMDB has found a very accurate description of this type of amalgam calling it 'genre twister'. 'A Girl at My Door', the only feature film made so far by director July Jung, is an excellent example. Here we find elements of social drama and thriller, themes that are related to the situation of illegal immigrants and abuses to adolescents in broken families, the film could also find its place in LGBT festivals. As with many other Korean films, a society that seems socially sanitized and formalities dominated even when it comes to needy social categories, hides inconvenient stories of repressed violence with elements of horror.

The quality of this film lies in its imperfection. July Jung makes some debutante mistakes, and not all of the film's components perfectly fit together. The story of the young policewoman sent to command a post with three policemen, at a remote location in the country, leaving behind a personal story that will be clarified along the way, oscillates between melodrama and crime story, between retelling the relationship between a mature woman and a teenager and a thriller, or even horror film. The action takes a less credible turn and some characters evolve towards a direction that can surprise or disturb many viewers. Neither is the outcome completely clear, five minutes before the end we still do not guess what will eventually happen, the solution found is not perfect either. But these imperfections are part of life, and they add rather than diminish the film's merits.

The selection of actors is aligned with the same style. The lead roles are distributed to Doona Bae, a well-known actress who plays professionally but with simplicity the role of the policewoman, and to young Sae-ron Kim who gives her a sentimental replica in the emotional role of the abused teenager. Much of the rest of the cast seems to be composed of amateur actors, and the diverse but well-directed combination of actors works quite well. 'A Girl at My Door' is an imperfect film, a different film that refuses to fall into the familiar categories, but which viewers can not easily forget.

THE MOST UNDERRATED MOVIE OUT THERE.

[DarkSpotOn · 10/10 · 15 January 2023]

How does this movie have only 20 reviews? This is one of the best, most realistic, movies I have ever seen. If you are into I SAW THE DEVIL and SWEET WHIP, you will ADORE this movie.

This movie is a rollercoaster of emotions. This is why we love movies from Asia! I would call this the Asian MARTYRS in its way. If you think about it, this movie tries to be realistic as possible, while MARTYRS does experiment with gore and horror trying to make it more shocking.

Every actor does an amazing job. The story is extremely strong, and even tho the movie is a slow one, it still is a full-blown masterpiece. This is what DISTURBING movies are man. You don't need GORE or EXPLOITATION for it to be shocking. The best Disturbing movies are the ones that hit the nail without any gore, or forceful shock material, like this beautiful gem.

I was about to cry a river out of myself at that ending man and then thanked God the ending was a happy one. If the little girl did the deed, id probably have cried good 5+ minutes like when I watched Grave of the Fireflies and Triangle.

This is one of those movies that you MUST watch, and it's a shame and pity that it's not more known.

Social Policing

[[e-mail] · 10/10 · 23 September 2020]

When a young police inspector arrives in a small town, she looks every bit the fresh-faced idealistic young officer, but there is a troubled history behind the facade. Even as this perky young woman cycles spryly down country lanes and town roads, she is struggling with her demons. When she meets Do-Hee, a middle-school girl of around eleven years old, it sparks a relationship between her and the girl that will ultimately lead to a re-evaluation of morals. This is a well acted piece about dealing with personal demons, and social judgement.

Watchable, but slightly unrealistic

[Tamasaburo · 5/10 · 14 July 2017]

This is not a bad movie, I enjoyed especially that not everybody died in the end, as often seen in Korean movies. But I asked myself most of the time, in what world it takes place. Oftentimes I couldn't really grasp the decision making process of the protagonist, our police-lady. I can not imagine, that Korea works like this. First, is it really not possible to be an officer of the law and be homosexual in Korea? Second, why take the girl into her home and not call the authorities to take care of the situation? Are there no welfare agencies in Korea? How can the girl be left alone in her deserted home after her father's arrest? Highly implausible. Either Korea is a lot more 3rd world than I ever imagined or this movie is just crap story-wise with the typical glossy finish like often seen in Korean and even more Japanese films. Those super-professional film productions often hide very very bad stories in those two countries. And the strange and sad thing about it is, that many of those movies are highly regarded in western festivals and by western critics. A misunderstanding really. The looks of those drama movies tick the right spots for the artsy film critic. There are millions of movies with those production values out there from japan and Korea, this certainly is one of the lesser ones. Watch, but be aware it takes place in fairy tale-land.

Rubbish

[svader · 3/10 · 18 February 2019]

I've only got 30 minutes in and hate it already.

So you can beat up a kid that's not yours and get away with it . In front of the so called chief of police ??

Some many continuity errors in just 30 minutes it's ridiculous. A glaring example is the mysterious cups of tea (maybe) that appear from nowhere when the chief goes to see the top police in his office.

Unrealistic soap drama at best.

Nonsense !

This movie perpetuates child abuse

[fairy396 · 3/10 · 14 April 2023]

When I decided to watch the movie, I was aware there would be child abuse. I expected it to be criticized and actually fought against, but it wasn't.

Everyone is aware the girl suffers abuse that goes from name-calling to severe beatings from her "father" and "grandmother" - which are not even biological or adoptive - but even after RELUCTANTLY helping the girl, the officer agrees to give the child back to her father when he stops drinking - and he doesn't! - as if the girl were a car. Later, when the chief is being interrogated, the detective even asks why the chief kept the girl in her house permanently and not temporarily. Seriously?

Later on, the "father" accuses the chief of leaving the girl for another woman, the girl goes to the officer's house barefoot and hurt and confronts her, the chief responds by slapping the girl and kicking the girl out of her home, leaving her to receive more abuse by her "father". And the chief never apologizes for that.

Later, the girl realizes that no one will really do anything in order to protect unless something even more extreme happens, and that she needs to make some sort of sacrifice in order to get rid of her "father". The girl records her "father" abusing her in a call to another police officer - and it's later made clear it's not even the first time he did that, and the bastard finally goes to jail and loses the ownership of her. Even then, the male police officer - and a reviewer here - accuses THE GIRL of being a monster because she incriminated her "father" and maybe caused the death of her "grandmother" in order to survive. That is depressingly messed up. What was the girl supposed to do? Suffer more abuse and maybe die in their hands?

Unfortunately, a lot of people have zero empathy for children. I'm disappointed that no one in the reviews criticized the abuse, the neglect and the victim-blaming. They preferred to focus on the chief's orientation, breakup and alcohol problem rather than in that awful situation.

And one review even says that the original plan of the author was not even to focus on child abuse. In my opinion, if he made a movie about an LGBT police officer dealing with a breakup and there was a solution, the movie would be much more likeable.