BA_Harrison
Brothers Dae-jin (Byung-hun Lee) and Ho-jin (Eol Lee) are both involved in car accidents that leave them in a coma. When Dae-jin regains consciousness he begins to exhibit mannerisms that suggest that he is possessed by his brother's spirit, which leaves Ho-jin's wife Eun-su (Mi-yeon Lee) uncertain how to react.I watched the dreadfully dull Sarah Michelle Gellar movie Possession not so long ago, unaware that it was a remake of Korean drama Addicted, a film that has sat gathering dust in my box of unseen DVDs for quite some time now. On seeing that the original had a pretty decent rating here on IMDb, I decided to dig it out and thankfully found it to be the superior film, a classy affair that, unlike the remake, deals with its subject matter in a subtle and intelligent manner.Like Possession, Addicted is a real slow-burn of a film, the narrative unfolding in a considered manner that I suspect will be way too leisurely for many viewers, but with the Korean film successfully avoiding the dumb plot holes and ridiculous characterisations that made its US counterpart difficult to endure, it proves to be a thoroughly engaging bittersweet romance, twisted and yet touching at the same time.
Desertman84
Addicted is a South Korean thriller film written by Byun Won-mi and directed by Park Young-hoon.It stars Lee Byung-hun and Lee Mi-yeon together with Eun-su Lee Ueol and Park Sun-young.The story involves a couple who begin a more passionate love as the people around them look distastefully at their relationship.Addicted tells the story of a married couple Eun-su and Ho-jin, whose younger brother Dae-jin also lives with the inseparable pair. Seemingly they enjoy the perfect life in harmony, Ho-jin is a caring, loving husband, while Eun-su shares the same uncontrollable affection. They are the perfect twosome, whose relationship is looked upon as solid and ideal, a yardstick, if you will, for others to measure up to, an unshakable bond. Dae-jin, meanwhile, is carefree, behaves erratically and could do with finding himself a decent relationship in which he would have to care for someone else other than himself.However, their tranquil world comes crashing down around them when tragedy strikes one fateful day when two separate car accidents put both brothers in a coma.Dae-jin crashes his car during a car race and Ho-jin is involved in a taxi collision while on his way to the racing circuit. Only the younger sibling wakes, leaving Eun-su to restart her life alone without her husband. Left disorientated, events take a strange twist as Dae- jin's behavior changes, beginning to resemble that of Ho-jin, leaving everyone familiar with his antics questioning his peculiar mannerisms.Through the trauma and hysteria, Dae-jin believes he is in fact his brother and that he is possessed. Eun-su is left to wonder if her husband's soul is trapped in the body of her brother-in-law or if he's just mentally unstable.The movie offers an interesting premise.Although the story was implausible,the movie made it look like it can happen in real life.The characters involved especially Dae-jin made it look realistic.Credit the outstanding and excellent acting of Lee Byung-hun.The movie was absorbing especially during the development of the relationship between Eun-su and Dae-jin,who in the process loses his own identity to possess the characteristic of his brother in order to obtain the love and affection of the woman he desires most.The movie offers how much sacrifice one makes but in an awkward situation.Overall,Addicted's implausible storyline works with cast as well as the director and the screenwriter make it look realistic and that is the reason why this movie highly recommended to watch.
KineticSeoul
"Addicted" is a story about two brothers that live in the same house with a very good relationship, while the older brother is a nice and caring husband to his wife the younger brother played by Lee Byung-Hun is a carefree guy who is into racing. But things come to a drastic change when both brothers get into a car accident on the same day and the tragedy leads to both brothers into a coma, except the younger brother wakes up while the older brother is still in coma and things start to make a drastic turn from there. It's a somewhat boring film for most part since there is nothing innovative about it except the twist at the end which isn't much of a payoff either. Everything is just too slow and it felt like it dragged longer than it should have, nothing about it was really entertaining. It isn't even that smart of a film or thought provoking and it seemed to depend way too much on the twist near the end, and if your a movie vet it's sort of predictable.5/10
Xiayu
An old idea given a new spin, this film ponders the idea of a living person possessed by the soul of the dead. But it's not the Exorcist - there's no horror, no gore, just intricate, unsettling emotions and impossible-to-answer questions.Two brothers, Ho-jin and Dae-jin, are close but with the kind of tolerance and exasperation that comes from a lifetime of living with someone who is your polar opposite. Ho-jin is a carpenter who is about to have an exhibition of his carefully crafted furniture. Dae-jin is a bit of a lout, races cars for a living, and doesn't really pull his weight around the house.They share a home with Ho-jin's wife, Eun-su. Ho-jin and Eun-su enjoy a special relationship, writing letters to one another daily and treasuring their good fortune at having found one another. On the day that Dae-jin is to race in a rally, Ho-jin, running very late, catches a cab to the speedway. Then disaster strikes: both brothers are simultaneously the victims of shocking car accidents. Both end up in the hospital in deep comas.A year later, we see one of them awake. Dae-jin opens his eyes, staggers out of bed and catches sight of himself in the mirror. The significance of this is not overdone, but the shot is held long enough to let the viewer know that it's important. He is released from the hospital and goes home to pick up his life. It's slow going - he is often confused and distracted, frequently falling into very long sleeps, and physically shaky. He begins to adopt habits; watering the garden, making elaborate dinners, building furniture, putting toothpaste on Eun-su's toothbrush in the early morning. This freaks Eun-su out - these are all things that Ho-jin used to do.It becomes clear that Dae-jin believes himself to be Ho-jin inside Dae-jin's body. The tension comes from the fact that, as he tries to convince Eun-su of this by revealing facts about her that only Ho-jin would know, the viewer is also likewise convinced. The question - is soul possession possible, and if so, is Ho-jin really living within Dae-jin - which outside the confines of this movie may strike you as rather silly, is treated in all seriousness and therefore works a treat. The ending, which I will not reveal, is highly ambiguous and therefore fitting. The lead actors, Lee Byeong-heon as Dae-jin, and Lee Mi-yeon as Eun-su, are a perfect balance. Lee Byeong-heon in particular is quite amazing. His voice, his body language, his facial expressions, are all noticeably different when the transformation from Dae-jin to Ho-jin takes place. Lee Mi-yeon has an ethereal quality to her that makes Eun-su's struggle to believe all the more poignant.At 114 minutes, this is well worth your time.