1. A foreign film: Forgotten (2017)

List Progress: 3/12

Sometimes you are just blessed with a completely bonkers thriller. Forgotten (Gieokui Bam), a South Korean film from 2017, starts as a tense domestic drama, where a young man’s older brother is kidnapped and returns over two weeks later as a seemingly different person. It takes so many twists and turns from that already mysterious starting place that you can barely keep up. But by the end, all of the chaotic and absurd elements come together and tie up neatly. It is a ridiculous film, but in a truly admirable way.

Jin-seok and his family are moving to a new house outside Seoul, but not everything about his peaceful life seems right. He is beset by strange nightmares, and the previous owners of the house have asked that a specific room be considered off-limits. But Jin-seok’s perfect older brother Yu-seok is a stabilizing force in his life and his family, and the tenuous balance is shattered when he is violently kidnapped off the street. The family hears no word about his fate for 19 days, until he reappears with little fanfare one day. But Yu-seok is now behaving differently and sneaking out at night, so Jin-seok is determined to get to the bottom of everything that is going on.

The above paragraph is only the beginning, and this is a film that is worth going into blind, to be taken along on the ride. A lot of the plot developments are over-the-top and ridiculous, but surprisingly coherent by the conclusion, with almost all of the niggling little questions answered. This can be rare among thrillers, especially chaotic, high-energy ones, so it serves as quite a recommendation.

Forgotten is the state fair food of movies: not the healthiest or most refined, but a well-made, special occasion type of junk food. And people love fair food for a reason.

Would I Recommend It: Yes.