Project Silence movie review: An underwhelming disaster-horror experience

Project Silence movie review

Film: Project Silence (Original title ‘Talchul: Project Silence')
Cast: Lee Sun-kyun, Ju Ji-hoon, Kim Hee-won
Director: Tae-gon Kim
Rating: 2.5/5
Runtime: 101 min

‘Parasite' star Lee Sun-kyun's posthumous release, ‘Project Silence' has an intriguing premise. A few random strangers get trapped in a fog-enshrouded bridge leading to the airport after a multiple-vehicle pile-up caused by a reckless sports car driver, unleashes ferocious unknown beasts. But the formulaic plot, paper-thin characters and B movie treatment hampers the enjoyment.

Cha Jung-Won (Lee Sun-Kyun), a recent widower who's been assisting Jung Hyun-Baek (Kim Tae-Woo) to win the upcoming election and the former's rebellious daughter, Cha Kyung-Min (Kim Su-An) who is on her way to study abroad are two of the many people caught up in the melee. A military vehicle transporting a pack of experimental dogs codenamed "Echoes", controlled by researcher, Dr Yang (Kim Hee-Won) are also part of the pile-up. A gas station attendant and tow truck driver Jo Park (Ju Ji-Hoon), his lapdog, Jodie, pro golfer Yoo-Ra (Park Ju-Hyun), her manager-sister Mi-Ran (Park Hee-Von) and an elderly couple played by Moon Sung-Keun and Ye Soo-Jung are also part of the ensuing drama.

Mixing disaster movie tropes with horror coming from mutated dogs on the prowl, the narrative tries hard to capture the dilemma of characters in peril while being stuck on a fog-covered bridge. But this is no ‘Train to Busan.' Kim Tae-Gon, Kim Yong-Hwa and Park Joo-Suk, who together co-wrote the screenplay fail to develop the latent potential of this hybrid blend of genres, turning this movie experience into a tedious unfulfilling watch.

Jung-won and other survivors have to work together to escape the howling horrors - a scenario apt for a whole lot of thrills. But Director Tae-gon's inept gamey cat-and-mouse design lacks clarity and gut-punching violence. The camerawork while competent is not viscerally all encompassing. The low-light conditions and the increasing body count could have been put to more fulfilling use.

Fractured character development and an inconsistent disengaging storyline hamper the narrative. The pacing is uneven, the gory feels tame and the finale tends towards the underwhelming. Director Tae-Gon fails to build-up either tension or adequate suspense. Everything that transpires here - even the action, feels rather flat and uninspired. The CGI dogs look adequately fearsome but their actions feel suspect. Functional CGI, unambitious aesthetic and stray moments of suspense and thrill fail to raise up the entertainment value here.