Spider Forest

REVIEW
You may be completely seduced by it, or you may be completely confounded (or, more than likely, both), but at the very least, it’s unlikely you’ve seen anything quite like the boldly experimental thriller Spider Forest. Director Song Il-gon follows up his acclaimed 2001 debut Flower Island with this strange, mesmerizing mystery that presents the fragmented remnants of one man’s violent, tragic past as puzzle pieces that each audience member must collate and interpret. The result is a complex meditation on memory and grief that plays like an Asian ghost story as filtered through Alain Robbe-Grillet. Regaining consciousness following an auto accident, television news producer Min (Kam Woo-sung) tells his police detective friend that a couple was murdered in the forest where Min’s crash occurred. There are indeed two bodies there . . . but what else does Min’s disjointed memory recall? As his recollections gradually come back, Min reflects back on why he originally journeyed to that cottage in the woods, and how this relates to his wife’s earlier death, a demise that Min foresaw in a vision. Are these events of a supernatural origin, or just psychological torment located entirely within Min’s mind? Or both? As the mystery unravels, writer-director Song layers on additional narrative density and possible interpretations; Korean shockers like A Tale of Two Sisters look positively linear by comparison. This visually arresting thriller explores how loss and grief can shape one’s consciousness, and its intricacies will leave you discussing and debating for days. (Korean with English subtitles)