Review | Busan 2025: The People Upstairs movie review – Ha Jung-woo excels in cheeky sex comedy
Ha shows skill on both sides of the camera in his movie with Gong Hyo-jin and Kim Dong-wook as a prim couple seduced by swinging neighbours
3/5 stars
Noisy neighbours are an all-too-common scourge of Asia’s overcrowded cities, but what do you do when their intimate nocturnal antics become too loud to ignore?
This relocated adaptation of Cesc Gay’s Sentimental is the latest in a string of Korean remakes of Spanish films, which also includes Door Lock and Intimate Strangers (both from 2018).
The new film stars Gong Hyo-jin and Kim Dong-wook as a married couple whose relationship has grown so stagnant that they sleep in separate rooms and avoid any semblance of intimacy.
When the incessant moans, gasps and repetitive thumping sounds from the couple upstairs become unbearable, Jung-ah (Gong) resolves to confront their new neighbours.