turdbadge
Helpless is a true "nothing is as it seems" type of mystery that takes you down the rabbit hole and never disappoints along the way. At it's core is a well organized plot that make you feel like you're investigating right alongside the characters. Their surprise is your surprise - Their dead end in is your dead end. When you think you have the missing girl all figured out, the story opens completely up and shows you exactly what you hadn't thought of. The action is both believable and unexpected, all the while making sense instead of how movies normally make you go "seriously?" As far as Korean flicks go in general, this one wasn't overly emotional. It was a GREAT watch. An intelligent mystery riddled with suspense and void of stupid mistakes. A must see for mystery lovers and Korean movie fans.
reallyevilboy
It's getting to a stage where I'm perusing South Korean films and watching each and every one I'm able to get my hands on. I've seen a few bad ones but I've seen dozens upon dozens of brilliant ones.This one starts of pretty simple but then twists and cycles into something complex and riveting. It shows a harsh world that shapes people into what they are and touches you with a background story that makes you want to forgive.It's very well done.I would not put it in my top ten of South Korean movies because we are looking at a massive amount scoring 9 and 10 out of 10 but if I had not seen any other Korean movies and watched mainly American Movies this would be close on the top of my list.
Ajit Tiwari
Helpless is based on a novel "KASHA" by Japanese author Miyuki Miyabe that was released in English as "All She Was Worth".A veterinarian Jang Mun-ho (Lee Seon-gyun) and his fiancée Kang Sun-young (Kim Min-hee) on the way to visiting his parents and Sun-young disappears from the car at a coffee shop, leaving no trace for anyone except a hairpin in the rest stop's toilet. Eventually we discover many things when Mun-ho and his detective cousin Jong-geun (Seong-ha Jo) dig deepper into her disappearance, doubts increase and they get closer to uncovering another shocking truth about Seon-yeong with lots of turns and twists.The emotional quotient plays a counterpart and insinuates beautifully. The use of flashbacks and disclosures is wonderful. Lead actors have done a pure justice to their roles and details of investigation are brilliant. Setting is nice and cinematography is impeccable. However, some scenes may be unnecessary and some editing is required.Korean cinema is very inventive with regards to the suspense and thriller genre and "Helpless" is one of the examples. The script is very good however the plot and characters need a bit development lack sometimes.It is absolutely worth to check out this one by all means.7.5/10.
John
I watched this film not knowing anything about the plot. I think that was a good thing. The less you know the better in this case. If you are considering watching it, stop reading and just go, it's great. All I will tell you is that the movie is an excellent mystery thriller. While the themes can be violent or sad, it's not over the top or gratuitous. The impact comes from the way the story is revealed, piece by piece. The acting, I thought, was excellent. I only guessed one part of the mystery, otherwise the rest of the time I was glued trying to work out the answers. I know a film is good, when afterward I feel like the character were real, and this film gave me that sense of realism. A litte more character development and background would have been nice, as the pace gets going really early on. Otherwise fantastic Korean thriller that is well worth checking out.
AD
