Noise – Movie Review | Fantasia (3/5)

NOISE is a South Korean horror movie that just screened at Fantasia 2025. It deals with a topic most people are able to relate to: Noisy neighbors. Especially if you live in an apartment complex. Read our full Noise movie review here!

NOISE is a South Korean horror movie that offers elements of psychological thriller as well as supernatural horror. I watched this just before the Netflix movie Wall to Wall (also from South Korea), and they have very similar premises.

Or rather, they begin the same way, but then differ wildly as they evolve. If you’ve watched the Netflix movie and want a real horror movie with a core plot about the struggles of having noisy neighbors, then you’ll want to watch Noise. At just 93 minutes, it’s much shorter.

Continue reading our Noise movie review below. Screened during Fantasia 2025.

Noise that drives you mad

In Noise, the title character of constant noisy neighbors is very relatable. And yet, the experiences of the people in this particular apartment is out of the extraordinary. We follow Joo-young (Lee Sun-bin), who deals with hearing loss and uses a hearing aid.

Obviously, this isn’t a bad thing when surrounded by noise. She can simply take off her hearing aid for some peace and quiet. Her young sister Ju-hee (Han Soo-a), however, doesn’t have this option. Maybe that’s why she’s going mad in this seemingly quiet neighbourhood.

Joo-young moves out to life in a dorm at her place of work, but then gets word that her sister has suddenly disappeared. That’s when she returns to the apartment and realises something is very wrong.

Not least with the man living in the apartment below hers, as he arrives at all hours of the day and night, complaining that she’s making noise. She isn’t, but she does hear noise from her own upstairs neighbors as well.

Out of this world?

The longer Ju-young (or Joo-young) stays at the apartment, she realizes something is very off. With brand new hearing aids and an app on her phone that detects when someone near her is speaking, she is having some strange experiences.

Could her sister’s disappearance have something to do with these strange noises? And where is that voice coming from?

Finally, there’s the very creepy and extremely foul-smelling basement full of trash. Could something be hidden in that room that no one wants to get near?!

With Noise being a horror movie with supernatural horror as an official genre, this story also includes something that seems to come from the beyond in some sense. However, just as with any zombie movie, you need to be careful of the supposedly “normal” people as well.

Noise is currently screening at film festivals

Director Kim Soo-jin and screenwriter Lee Je-hui have created a movie that gets under your skin and forces you to try and put yourself in the place of the characters. What would you do? How would you react in the same situation?

While Noise is a really good South Korean horror movie, it will not make it onto our “Best South Korean genre movies” list. As good as it is, I did actually find the new Netflix movie Wall to Wall to be more efficient and elegant.

Sure, that one is a psychological thriller, and this is a supernatural horror movie, so that plays a huge part. Having said that, I would always recommend checking out this horror movie as it has extremely efficient moments and a story that works well overall.

This movie did have me on the edge of my seat, but the ending was a bit of a letdown. Well, it was and it was not, as I loved part of the very final twist. Just not the one before that one.

The film premiered at Sitges in October 2024 and has been playing film festivals all over the world since then. It still is, so catch it if you get the chance. We’ll update this review with news about any wider releases that will make it easier to watch.

Noise (org. title: Noijeu) is screened and reviewed for our Fantasia 2025 coverage.

Details

Director: Kim Soo-jin
Writers: Lee Je-hui, Kim Yong-hwan
Cast: Lee Sun-bin, Kim Min-seok, Ryu Kyung-soo