At a press screening on June 16 at Megabox COEX in Seoul, director Kim Soo-jin and cast members, including Lee Sun-bin, Kim Min-seok, and Han Soo-ah, unveiled the film’s unsettling premise: a woman searching for her missing sister while navigating the torment of relentless apartment noise pollution, all while being hearing impaired.
Lee Sun-bin plays Joo-young, a tenant in a noisy apartment complex who slowly unravels as disturbing events consume her world. While investigating her sister’s disappearance, Joo-young is drawn into a terrifying journey that explores how silence can become the loudest scream.
Director Kim explained that the concept originated from a common Korean urban issue: noise between floors. “I was captivated by the idea of a character who cannot hear being the one to explore the horror rooted in sound,” she said. The film uniquely weaponizes silence, creating dread not through jump scares, but through immersive sound design, or the lack of it.
Lee Sun-bin shared her attraction to the script’s emotional depth: “Noise pollution is such a relatable topic. Anyone can be a victim or even a perpetrator without realizing it. That duality fascinated me.” Despite being a die-hard fan of horror, from webtoons to YouTube videos, Lee admitted this was her first time acting in the genre and questioned if she could “do it justice.” Yet, the compelling script won her over.
The actress emphasized the difficulty of acting out fear without actual horror effects, relying instead on pure emotion. “The protagonist knows the least but has to react the most. That paradox is what makes horror especially demanding as an actor.”
Newcomer Han Soo-ah, playing the missing sister, also dives into the horror genre for the first time, while Kim Min-seok rounds out the cast in a suspenseful role tied to the film’s mysterious unfolding.
Set for release on June 25, Noise is more than a horror flick; it’s a chilling social commentary wrapped in tension, rooted not in fantasy but in the harsh realities of modern apartment living. For anyone who’s ever been kept awake by upstairs neighbors, this film promises to hit disturbingly close to home.
