“Project Silence” Review: A Passable Korean Thriller Hounded By Major Problems

We all know that South Koreans are absolute monsters when it comes to their movies and TV series. From dark political comedies such as “Parasite” to tear-jerking horrors like “Train to Busan,” South Korean filmmakers have been killing it at the box office and on streaming services alike.

And I would be a liar if I said I didn’t have any expectations for “Project Silence.” Sure, a film with specially-enhanced dogs designed for assassinating may seem silly (and it is) but my curiosity was still piqued. Though it is an interesting film, concept-wise, this killer canine film is plagued by several problems right from the start. How so? Read on to find out.

The film follows Cha Jung-Won Lee (played by Lee Sun-kyun), a presidential aide who is too busy with work to care for his daughter, Cha Kyung-Min (played by Kim Su-an, who also played Soo-an in “Train To Busan”). Because of that, he decides that she should go abroad for her studies so that they can both focus on their respective fields.

On the way to the airport, the bridge they have to take is shrouded in thick fog. They’re eventually ensnared in a series of car crashes, which also leads to a pack of killer dogs being released. The dogs go on to attack all on the bridge who survived the massive pile-up. From there, the survivors must escape the slowly collapsing bridge as they simultaneously uncover the plot behind the genetically-engineered dogs which are part of “Project Silence.” Being a politician, Jung-Won is torn on what stance he should take as he uncovers the truth behind the conspiracy.

Let’s get right into the film’s major positives: its use of CGI and visual effects. From the dense fog to the crashing helicopters down to the drops of blood dripping off the dogs’ faces, the special effects are absolutely epic. There is not a scene in which I questioned the CGI; there are no obvious cuts, no terrible blending, no photoshopped-looking detail — it all looks and feels like the real deal. And that is as it should be, as the film had a reported budget of 18.5 billion won (US$13.4 million).

It came to the point that I began to question if even the bridge, where the majority of the film takes place, is also edited in post. And surprisingly enough, it’s a mix of both. Production built a gigantic set with an asphalt road to shoot the scenes. It also took around 300 trucks packed with props to get everything looking the way it is. This created a very immersive backdrop that kept me invested in the film and left my eyes peeled for any mangy mutts hiding amongst the rubble.

With that kind of money, you can expect some veteran actors to fill the leading roles. Leading the pack is none other than Cha Jung-Won, who plays the aforementioned emotionally-distant father. Though he’s a slimy politician, Jung-Won is actually an entertaining character to watch. Because of his high position, he’s able to muscle his way through most problems, be it with some persuasion or credible threats, which is something we don’t get to see in a film protagonist. However, Jung-Won portrays Lee with incredible finesse, causing us to root for him rather than oppose him (typical politicians). However, as he slowly awakens to the loss of life around him, he turns over a new leaf, which is nice.

Another strong character is Joe Park (played Ju Ji-hoon), a simple tow truck driver that we can also argue is as slimy as Lee, but also becomes likeable by the end of the film. He is largely played as dependable comic relief who’s constantly at odds with Lee’s pragmatic and decisive thinking, but manages to set aside their differences to help everyone out. I genuinely enjoyed his character very much, but by the end of the film, he’s been throwing in so many jokes and gags that it does get quite annoying.

Early on in my viewing, I noticed that the film had some very obvious similarities with “Train to Busan.” If anything, the similarities are almost impossible to miss. A detached father figure who is too busy with his work sends his daughter off to live with a relative who is located in a distant place. In their travels, they encounter a massive tragedy that puts their bond to the test, coming out closer than they ever were.

I have no issue with a film borrowing elements from another film; that’s how art typically goes, but the fact that the emotional payoff at the end isn’t as satisfying as “Train to Busan” raises some issues. This problem is typically the result of a film that doesn’t flesh out the whole character dynamic of its main cast. Out of the eight characters in the group, only three to four of them have meaningful interactions with each other, isolating the remaining four as additional bodies or fillers to make the group bigger, or to add to the body count (this is a horror film, after all). If the cast had a more fleshed out character dynamic, then I might have been more engrossed with them as I was with the CGI.

The film showcases some incredible problem-solving skills by the main characters, but they don’t really do anything about the dogs except avoid them all throughout the film. And the weird thing is that it works, as the dogs just slowly die out without much trouble in the end. The film ends with a nice little bow on top, but there are a lot of things to be desired.

It’s a silly film, hands down. Don’t get me wrong, the concept of genetically-enhanced dogs out for revenge is terrifying in real life, but it doesn’t really rock me to my core like other horror movies out there.

Overall, “Project Silence” is an interesting film that could easily have been a terrifying one. However, due to the silly plot, I can’t really take it seriously. Not only that, but because of the surface-level character development and connection, I wouldn’t really feel for a certain character if tragedy struck them one way or another. If production spent more time on writing these characters and how they interacted with each other better, then this might have been a solid film.

Project Silence will be in theatres nationwide on 11th July, 2024!