Lingering Review: A Supernatural Korean Hotel Haunting

Release date: November 12, 2020
Running time: 101 minutes
Starring Lee Se-young (Memorist), Park ji-young (The Concubine)
Directed by Yoon Eun-kyoung

A Shudder Original.  Seeking support as the guardian of her younger brother, Yoo-mi returns to a small hotel run by a family friend. As bizarre incidents creep up in her mother’s old room, Yoo-mi will have to unravel the supernatural mystery and discover the truth before it’s too late.

Lingering has a very good atmosphere, with a creepy hotel and plenty of unsettling events occurring as you get to the know the characters and their predicament.  There are several things that make sure you realize that there is something not quite right going on, from strange visions, to ghostly figures, to terrible unsettling behavior.  The film is a mystery that builds and builds from the start.  Much of the story also focuses on the interactions between Yoo-mi and her guardian younger brother.  Strange events occur that will keep you on edge, though not as much supernatural occurs as I would have expected in this film.  

Lingering is a very well constructed film, but it also is a slow burn and you have to really become invested in the characters and their predicament to keep you interested.  The film does not have a ton of traditional horror elements.  There are definite hints of supernatural activity, and some jump scares, but overall the film just didn't have the level of horror that I was expecting.  Korean horror films can be very good and Lingering was by no means bad, it just didn't have the same level of scares that I was hoping for.  It had a lot of character development and psychological terror, but I wanted it to have more pronounced horror elements as well.  There are also a lot of dream sequences that make it tough to tell whether what is happening is in the "real world" or if it is just in Yoo-mi's mind.  I think this is by design but it did make the story a little hard to follow.  And finally, the ending of the film just did not seem to fit with the overall tenor of the movie.  

Lingering is a supernatural psychological horror film with a good cast and sense of mystery as you try to unravel this Korean hotel haunting.

Rent it.

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Lingering is available to stream on Shudder starting November 11, 2020.