Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Midnight Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 15, 2022

Kwon Oh-seung's "Midnight" (2021) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include new audio commentary by critic Kat Ellinger and new video essay by critic Travis Crawford. In Korean, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Is it possible that South Korean cities are like the place that is revealed in Midnight? Seoul is near the top of a small list of dream destinations I have created for a very, very special world trip that somehow never materializes and I know for a fact that it is not like the place in Midnight. How do I know? I have a very good lady friend that works in my local hair salon who years ago left Seoul and because of her I believe I have a pretty realistic image of the city a foreigner like me would discover. It won’t be the city that tourist brochures sell, or the city that vloggers on YouTube explore. It would be the city that ordinary South Koreans call home. My lady friend, who is in her late sixties, visits South Korea every couple of years and has current impressions of what life is like in Seoul, so I trust everything she has told me. But what about the smaller cities in South Korea? Busan and Incheon are probably a lot like Seoul, but what does a city with one-tenth of their population look like? What is it like to live there? I wonder because after the end credits of Midnight rolled on my screen my immediate reaction was “impossible, beyond unrealistic”. Then earlier today, as I was preparing my article, I began to wonder whether the drama in Midnight might be a lot more realistic than I had concluded. Why? Let me answer with another question. That desolated hunting ground that is revealed in Judgment Night, is it real or entirely made up? If you are convinced that it is a fictional place, then I have breaking news for you: you do not know much about the city of Chicago. Here’s more breaking news for you: nearly thirty years later, the city of Chicago has many more such dangerous places that each week produce even bigger fireworks.

Midnight reminds of Judgement Night. All of the drama in it takes place over the course of a single night, mostly on the outskirts of what appears to be a pretty big city. It has an unhinged hunter roaming free. The hunted are two deaf women, one in her early twenties, the other in her early sixties. T It has a few clueless cops that meet the hunter and completely misjudge him, and a concerned stranger looking for his kidnapped sister who recognizes the hunter and enters the hunt.

But the rules of the hunt in Midnight are very, very different. They are extremely flexible and silly, routinely perplexingly irrational as well, which is why the drama that flourishes in it is awfully difficult to take seriously. In fact, the entire second half of Midnight is so devoid of logic that certain sequences begin to look grotesque. Here’s a short description of one such sequence: the hunter, his two female targets, and the stranger looking for his kidnapped sister are brought in a tiny police station and left alone while the only two cops in the entire building step outside to have a smoke. The hunter and the stranger engage, nearly kill each other, and when the jaded cops eventually return, they believe what the former has to say about the brawl. The hunter then walks away, even though the two deaf women could have easily confirmed the stranger’s story.

The leads are clearly good actors that deserve to be in much better films. Wi Ha-joon, who plays the unhinged hunter, could be a tremendous villain in a serious crime film where criminals and cops behave like grownups. It feels like his talent is completely wasted in Midnight, and not because he isn’t trying his best to impress, but because the screenplay demands that he goes through a seemingly endless string of ridiculous situations.

Apparently, Midnight was the directorial debut of Kwon Oh-seung, a young filmmaker who obviously has a good sense of style but lacks the experience that is needed to produce a solid film. I think that he is on the right track because there are bits of very exciting material in Midnight, so he needs to be patient and figure out how to shoot a lot more of it.

Midnight Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Midnight arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

This film looks pretty incredible in high-definition. Obviously, it is a very recent film that was shot with modern equipment, but a lot of its visuals look almost as good as what I would expect to see from a 4K Blu-ray release. A lot of the darker footage in particular reveals excellent ranges of darker nuances and superb depth, which isn't easy because light is frequently captured in very particular ways. Clarity and sharpness can be just as good. Colors are lush yet natural and very nicely balanced. There are no stability issues. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Midnight Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Korean DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

My guess is that the film has a fully digital soundtrack that is perfectly replicated by the 5.1 track. Clarity, sharpness, and balance are outstanding. Separation is really good too, though you should not expect to hear spectacular surround movement. The dialog is clear and stable. The English translation is very good as well.

Midnight Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Korean Horror Cinema - this new visual essay was created by Travis Crawford. In English, not subtitled. (23 min).

• Commentary - this new audio commentary was recorded by critic Kat Ellinger.

• Booklet - an illustrated booklet featuring new writing by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, as well as technical credits.

Midnight Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I am willing to believe that there are cities in South Korea with dangerous areas like the one that is revealed in Midnight. I am unwilling to believe that these areas are populated with irrational people like the ones seen in the film. This is basically the one and only reason Midnight does not work for me. I think that it looks pretty darn good for a directorial debut, but its drama is so utterly unrealistic that I was barely able to finish it. Eureka Entertainment's technical presentation of Midnight is outstanding, so if you disagree with my take on the film and want to have a copy of it in your library, buy with confidence.