The Call [2020]
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IMDB: 7.1 RT: 100/81 Me: 8.6
"[Line ringing]"
Imagine if, back in 2004, someone had ran a red light, causing the person with the right-of-way to swerve into a nearby crosswalk, causing the mother walking her child to school to leap out of the way, causing a nearby driver to honk and scream as they bump into his hood, causing a passerby to throw their coffee onto the honking driver, which then causes the mother of the child to be grateful for the backup and offer to buy them a new one, which then adds them to the cue at the coffee shop, which makes Ashton Kutcher late for his producer's meeting, which makes The Butterfly Effect never happen.
Now imagine if, in its place, we got an absolutely wonderful Korean film that handled literally every element of that film better, utilized incredibly clever and well envisioned visual effects, stunning cinematography, exciting performances, and a funky score that will leave you tensely laughing all the way through at the sheer audacity of the whole production.
Well, if you've done all of that, I have both good news and bad news. The bad news... Ashton Kutcher's The Butterfly Effect did happen. The good news, however, is that we also did eventually get the better version of the film.
2020's South Korean spectacle, The Call is one that I can't believe I hadn't heard of until now. Alongside other Asian horror greats like Ringu, Pulse, Ju-On and The Eye, The Call takes the horror thriller into the modern era with an anachronistic twist. Start to finish, this one is a blast.
Featuring wonderful cinematography; from wide panning shots making the world look like a miniature to focused point views drawing us into specific details in nearly every scene, Call is stunning to behold and even more fun to experience. The story is well formulated, engaging, original, and almost every beat is hit perfectly. Though I had a slightly different ending in mind... the one laid out for us by writer/director Chung-Hyun Lee fits perfectly into the story shown to us onscreen.
I wish I'd seen this sooner to generate more hype about it, but here we are now. So, make sure your mom doesn't need the internet for the next couple of hours and dial up your best friend to have a chat because, like a phone call out of the past, The Call is sure to stir up some old memories, but also bring entirely new and exciting experiences to life.
"Hello?"
