South Korean thriller OFFICE reviewed; opens NYKFF tonight

Sales Team 2 intern Mirae (actress KO Ah-sung)

Office / O piseu

Adapted and directed by HONG Won-chan

Screenplay by CHOI Yun-jin

South Korea, 2015, 111 minutes

When: Friday, November 6, 2015 at 6:30 PM

Where: Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI)

36-01 35th Avenue, Astoria, Queens, NY 

New York Premiere

Office politics turns deadly in this terrific thriller from first time director Director Hong Won-chan. This evening at 6:30 PM, the film will be the opening night presentation of The 13th Annual New York Korean Film Festival. Director Hong and star Ko Ah-sung will be present, and the screening will be followed by a reception in the Museum lobby and cafe.

After leaving work one evening, a member of Sales Team 2 at Cheil F&B commits a heinous crime, is captured on CCTV returning to the office, but is not seen leaving it. In the following days other members of the team die and the police are hard pressed to find the culprit.

Mirae (actress KO Ah-sung) is an intern assigned to the team and the only member of it who had a good relationship with the murderer. However, the same office politics that led one person to commit murder also weighs heavily on her as she desperately seeks to obtain a permanent position at the company.

Tension mounts as the killer continues to elude capture and the body count rises higher and higher.

Director HONG was the screenwriter for Confession of Murder (2012), The Yellow Sea (2010), The Scam (2009), and The Chaser (2007—a selection at Cannes). Office marks his most auspicious directorial debut.

Born on August 10, 1992, KO Ah-sung started acting at an early age and played the memorable role of the daughter in BONG Joon-ho’s The Host (2006). Her film credits include The Beauty Inside (2015), Thread of Lies (2014), Snowpiercer (2013, also directed by BONG), Duet (2012), After the Banquet (2009), A Brand New Life (2009), Radio Dayz (2008), and The Happy Life (2007). Her performance in Office is nothing less than spectacular.

The film is part murder mystery, part office drama, part horror story and 100% thrilling. Not to be missed.

AsianCineFest Rating: 4 out of 4 stars; highest recommendation.