South Korea/2014
Format Viewed for Review: Netflix Instant
Netflix Streaming: No
Amazon Prime: No
"...suffers from mediocre execution..."
A serial killer, who uses the sewers of Seoul to kidnap his victims, captures a deaf 14-year-old girl while being tracked by her older sister.
Manhole starts off interesting. I like the concept: an unhinged serial killer uses the sewers to terrorize a neighborhood in Seoul. The plot follows four separate parties: Soo-chul (Jung Kyung-ho), the serial killer, sisters Yeon-seo (Jung Yu-mi) and Soo-jung (Kim Sae-ron), Jong-ho, a taxi driver who is searching for his missing daughter, and Pil-gyu, a clumsy policeman. After setting up the premise, Soo-chul ends up kidnapping Soo-jung. Yeon-seo, Jong-ho, and Pil-gyu—who were all following Soo-jung for separate reasons—end up entering the sewers through a manhole. From there, all of the characters basically run around while trying to save Soo-chul or while trying to figure out what's going on. Due to its repetitive formula, it does end up losing some steam during its second half. I liked the ending, though. I thought it was effective.