A Girl at My Door (2014)
Doo-na Bae stars as a police chief recently transferred to a dying seaside village. It seems she had some sort of scandal during her Seoul employment and her supervisors want her to lay low for a while and let things blow over. She does have some problems, not the least being her ability to drink copious amounts of soju each night. Like 3 liters or so as a nightcap. But she's determined to be the voice of law and order, even if it means running up against the town's main economic engine, a volatile lout who exploits illegal immigrant labor.
Ms. police chief soon notices a young teen girl, about 13, who is the town's whipping post. She is called a "whore slut brat" and beat upon--and this is by her own grandmother. She is teased and smacked around by her classmates. Her stepfather (same lout as above) is worse, especially when drunk, which is about every night. The girl gloms on to the police lady, who attempts to shield her from further abuse.
I was very much liking this movie. The main actors are all outstanding. We know Doo-nae Bae, of course. The teen girl is the same actress as the little girl in My Brand New Life, and the girl needing saving from The Man from Nowhere. Both actresses do amazing jobs here--Bae, as the stoic police woman who hardly emotes at all, except via those eyes and her ever-tightening facial expressions, and the young teen, who acts out like you might expect from a girl who has been abused her whole life. Or, maybe, how you might not expect. The actor playing the stepfather will have you hissing at the screen every time he shows up.
The plot and story, also, are compelling and had me along for the ride for sure.
Then, about two-thirds of the way in, some things played out that had me saying to myself "if this movie goes in THAT direction, and gives me yet another vision of nihilism that makes me want to curse the TV, curse the world, and curse humanity, and everything ends like that and ROLL CREDITS, I'm going to give this fucking movie ZERO STARS" and give a hearty middle finger to the Korean film industry that seems to relish not just making you feel bad, but feel suicidal.
But no! The movie does not take that path and instead goes in a different direction that I found unsettling, but interesting and, importantly, completely in line with the characters' experiences and motivations. I bought in 100%. Crisis averted. This is an amazingly good and effective film. The only reason it doesn't get the full 5 stars is that I try to give that rating to those films I see myself watching over and over again. I don't see this one getting 7 re-watches over the years, but I'm sure I'll revisit it again sometime. Highly recommended.
4.5 stars.
