Film Review: Noise (2025) – Living in This Apartment Could Drive You Crazy

Noise (Original title: Noijeu) | 2025 | 1h 33m
Genre: Supernatural Horror / Drama / Horror / Thriller | Country: South Korea
Director: Kim Soo-jin | Writer: Lee Je-hui
Cast: Lee Sun-bin, Han Soo-a, Kim Min-Seok
IMDB: 5.7
My Rate: 7/10

Noise tells the story of Joo Young, who returns to her apartment after receiving news of her younger sister Joo Hee’s disappearance. Her search uncovers dark secrets hidden within the apartment walls—when the mysterious noises once heard only by Joo Hee begin to haunt Joo Young, triggering an increasingly intense wave of terror.

Warning:

Contains scenes of violence, suicide, self-harm, and harsh language

Synopsis:

Joo Young returns to her old apartment after learning about her younger sister Joo Hee’s disappearance. The empty, messy apartment, along with a mysterious warning from a downstairs resident, hints at dark secrets that have long been buried.

During her search, Joo Young meets Ki Hoon, Joo Hee’s boyfriend, who helps her uncover the truth. However, their efforts hit a dead end when the apartment residents see Joo Young’s presence as a threat to a renovation plan—one that seems deliberately covered up.

The terror becomes more real when horrifying noises begin to haunt Joo Young. A hearing aid, the last gift from Joo Hee, makes the sounds even clearer, while recordings on Joo Hee’s phone slowly reveal fragments of a truth that was never meant to surface.

What is the apartment really hiding—and who benefits the most from the residents’ silence?

Review:

No matter where we live, noise is always a risk. From neighbors and children playing to passing vehicles. This situation feels far worse when living in a poorly built apartment, where sound seems to come from every direction—above, below, and beside you. Noise (2025), a South Korean psychological horror film, turns everyday noise into a form of terror that slowly eats away at its residents’ sanity.

The story opens with a fairly strong foundation. Viewers are immediately introduced to the disturbing noises, Joo Hee’s increasingly fragile mental state caused by the sonic terror, and her argument with her older sister Joo Young, who eventually chooses to leave the apartment. Joo Young’s inability to hear is also portrayed in an interesting way, one example being a scene where she appears calm amid the loud noise of a factory.

The conflict slowly develops after Joo Hee is declared missing. Terror—both from human actions and unseen entities—begins to haunt Joo Young. At the same time, internal conflict in the form of guilt and past trauma emerges, strengthening the psychological layer of the story.

Unfortunately, the ending is presented at a pace that feels too rushed. The twist comes across as ambiguous, while several key mysteries are left unexplained. The apartment setting, the basement space, and even the continuation of the renovation project seem to disappear without proper closure.

Conceptually, Noise offers an interesting idea through the contradiction between a noisy environment and a main character with hearing impairment. However, the execution feels less than optimal. Joo Young’s character is not explored deeply, and her condition as someone with hearing disability is only felt in certain scenes, as if the audience needs to be repeatedly reminded in an obvious way.

Another weakness lies in the lack of clear time markers. How long Joo Hee has been missing, how long the search lasts, and when the terror truly begins are never clearly explained, even though these elements are crucial for building tension and narrative logic.

The story’s initial logic also leaves some questions. Joo Hee had complained about the noise from the start, when she was still living with Joo Young. Yet instead of moving out together, she chose to stay alone, while Joo Young left. This decision feels like it deliberately opens the door to much bigger problems.

Still, the film has its strengths, especially in the supporting performances and technical aspects like cinematography, editing, and transitions, which are handled quite well. The moral message about poor housing quality and the negligence of authorities is also clearly conveyed, one example being a police scene that seems to deny the existence of a hidden space discovered by Joo Young.

In the end, Noise is a horror film with a strong idea but an execution that isn’t fully polished. The atmosphere of terror built through sound and space works well, as does the social criticism woven into the story. However, weaknesses in character exploration, timeline clarity, and mystery resolution make the impact feel less sharp. This film may not satisfy viewers looking for clear answers, but it remains engaging for those who enjoy psychological horror with an ambiguous tone and unsettling social commentary.

Most Memorable Scene:

One of the most memorable scenes in Noise highlights the regret and buried trauma within Joo Young. She sees Joo Hee return without any reaction or interaction, until sadness and fear overwhelm her when her sister suddenly appears hanging in the living room—a nightmare that ultimately forces her to wake up from the terror.

The body often sends signals we don’t consciously want. Nightmares are not just random images, but projections of trauma and fear stored in the subconscious—a brutally honest reflection of wounds that have yet to be confronted.