Fantasia International Film Festival 2025 – The premise of The Woman is pretty familiar and standard for a lot of thrillers. A character dies. The one closest to said character believes it was foul play and not suicide, as detectives initially report. She attempts to solve the mystery. What makes director/co-writer Hwang Wook’s work unique, however, is the injection of nightmare sequences and the suspicion the viewer will feel towards a majority of the characters.
Han Hye-ji stars as Sun-kyung. She meets a stranger, Young-hwan ( Kim Hee-sang), to make an exchange of goods. More specifically, he gives her a used vacuum cleaner, and she attempts to offer him a pack of fresh strawberries as a simple thank you gift. During that first exchange, the film tiptoes into some of its first bizarre and startling moments. Young-hwan tells her that he no longer accepts gifts from strangers, no matter how persistent she is, or how yummy the strawberries look. He refuses, at first. A few minutes later, he takes the strawberries from her and shoves several into his mouth, until juice drips down his chin. It’s an incredibly uneasy sequence and visually striking. It’s clear something’s not right here.
Feeling uncomfortable, Sun-kyung is saved by a college friend. He bails her out of that awkward situation. Not long after, a detective informs Sun-kyun that her friend died by suicide. However, she doesn’t believe what she’s told. She’s convinced he was murdered, and she initially suspects Young-hwan. She certainly has good reason for this, considering their uncanny and uncomfortable first encounter. As the film goes on, Young-hwan isn’t the only potential suspect. The feature leaves viewers guessing as to what may have truly happened to Sun-kyung’s friend and who may be responsible. Each new character introduced adds another potential lead.
Wook’s feature balances the gritty reality of what may be a murder with actual nightmares. Sun-kyung increasingly has frightening visions every time that her head hits the pillow. She dreams of Young-hwan and the strawberry juice dripping from his mouth. It’s a menacing image. In another scene, she pulls a massive clump of hair out of the vacuum that looks like women’s hair. Her fears and anxieties are especially pronounced through these effective dream sequences that counterbalance the film’s otherwise slow-burn, day-to-day narrative. The film’s eeriness is enhanced by the creepy score and Lee Sung-won’s cinematography. The feature certainly contains mood and atmosphere that drives the psychological suspense.
By the conclusion, the feature gives no definitive conclusion. Was it suicide? Was it murder? If it was murder, who was responsible? The last shot opens another possibility. This is more about the journey than the answers, though it’s understandable that may frustrate some viewers. This film doesn’t necessarily wrap everything up neatly.
The Woman is a riveting character-driven thriller. It balances a familiar crime narrative with some hair-raising nightmare sequences. This is a strong work of independent Korean cinema, with a standout performance by Hye-ji in the lead role.
