It isn’t news that South Korea’s falling birth rate might leave the country empty of its own people in no time. The country that spits out K-pop groups like milk bottles being dropped off at homes every morning has recently been looking outward, even for the beloved genre, and you might wonder why the shift when they’re such a self-reliant culture. Well, because they’re not having babies. The concerning turn of the situation has left the country and its older generation desperate for a solution; the best one? The media, of course. Enter films like The Great Flood. On the surface, The Great Flood is a sci-fi apocalyptic film where we’re so shocked and overwhelmed by the scale of the flood, we realize too late that it’s actually a film about a mother and child. Look, Korea’s always been fantastic at this kind of emotionally charged commentary in apocalyptic films, the biggest example being Train To Busan, where an unwavering father will do anything to reunite with his daughter and keep her alive. This is a tried and tested formula, but it turns out we need more than just cabbage kimchi to keep us eating, you know?
The film is visually stunning, and a lot of the scenes are genuinely scary, really feeling like the water’s coming out of the screen like a great tsunami. It would genuinely be a wonderful theatrical experience. Additionally, despite being set in just the corridors of a building and the same apartments, you still don’t feel bored, and the tense atmosphere helps to keep your attention on the screen, which, let’s be honest, is nearly impossible in this world of scrolling. There’s a lot to enjoy in the background too, and though a good deal of what is happening doesn’t seem to make sense (like phones working when there’s water till the 3rd floor or a massive attack of a wave not killing someone), it’s still really entertaining nonetheless, in the old-school sci-fi kind of way. The CGI is super convincing, and the water looks pretty real on my little Netflix screen. It definitely feels like you might find yourself floating in it at any time, and that’s the mark of good effects.
But having said that, even if Kim Da-Mi gives a convincing performance as An-Na, the end result of the film is just very underwhelming for how big the rest of it feels. The first 40 minutes are certainly the most entertaining of the whole thing, and as we slowly get into what’s meant to be the big reveal, everything starts to fall apart. There is a fun loop situation going on here, but it doesn’t do enough. Even Da-Mi can’t keep this movie afloat like her desperate character, An-Na, trying to keep Ja-In out of the water. However, the best part of the film has got to be Kwon Eun-Song, who plays the little child Ja-In. Honestly, if he were my co-star, I would never be able to concentrate, because I’d be dying from how adorable he is. He definitely steals the show, even if there are stretches of the film where you’re just looking at the back of his head. The kid’s always been excellent, but he’s especially good at being adorable and simultaneously annoying as heck, because that’s the whole point of his character. The chemistry between Da-Mi and Eun-Song is also fantastic, because I never could’ve imagined her playing a mom, and halfway through the film I understood why she was cast in the role. But, having said that, I think she’ll be excellent at doing it again if she needs to.
There are some little details that are quite interesting, and I’d say pay attention to the t-shirts, I guess. The film is well-paced and feels classic in terms of its typical sci-fi premise. It starts off smooth and then hits you with some engaging reveals, but ultimately, I still feel it’s quite the letdown. Specifically, the direction things move in in the latter half of the film. This is not to say The Great Flood was technically lacking, because that would be far from the truth, but it just didn’t have the “X Factor” to make it memorable when every two days we get a new sci-fi film. I’m not saying it was a bad film, but neither am I saying it was an excellent one.
At the end of the day, this isn’t a film that is meant to be technically very realistic. I don’t think it’s trying to go for an Interstellar, though a lot may compare the two (the whole parent-child situation, plus the water planet thing, eh?). It’s still trying to be quite simple in its premise, despite the loopiness of it all, which is pretty nice but also makes it less exciting. But, ultimately, I still think it’s propaganda dressed in the form of an exciting speculative film that’s hoping to wake up the mother in you, but I’m not sure that’s how it works. I will say, Da-Mi does struggle in some more emotional scenes, which is quite ironic to the concept of the film, but she’s always been a more stoic actress, so it’s nice to see her experimenting.
I’ve said this a gazillion times before, but South Korean movies have a very nice way of making you remember their cultural background through little sentimental gestures, sequences that remind you that even in a world taken over by AI, emotions are what we need. But, with that being the main plot of this film, I feel like it’s going in the right direction but ultimately floats off beyond the horizon, not leaving much of a mark. I give The Great Flood 3 out of 5 stars because I think it’s a good step in the right direction, and some refinement would have made this an excellent film. But having said that, it would be interesting to see more stuff in the same universe (though I generally hate such a thing), only because there’s a lot left to explore here.
