Tell Me Something (텔 미 썸딩)
Tell Me Something (텔 미 썸딩; revised romanization Telmi Sseomding) is a 1999 South Korean crime thriller film directed by Chang Yoon-hyun, starring Han Suk-kyu and Shim Eun-ha, about a serial killer who dismembers his victims and scatters the body parts around Seoul.1
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | November 13, 1999, South Korea; distributed by Cinema Service2 |
| Director | Chang Yoon-hyun, in his second feature after The Contact (접속, 1997)3 |
| Cast | Han Suk-kyu (Detective Cho), Shim Eun-ha (Chae Su-yeon), Jang Hang-seon (Detective Oh), Yeom Jeong-ah, Yu Jun-sang4 |
| Runtime | 118 minutes per the Korean Film Archive and AsianWiki listings; the newikis entry lists 116 minutes2 • 1 |
| Rating | 18-and-over admission in South Korea2 |
| Production | Kuan Film (쿠앤필름); budget over 2 billion won2 • 3 |
| Music | Jo Yeong-wook and Bang Jun-seok; cinematography by Kim Sung-bok2 |
Spoilers
Plot
In Seoul in 1999, black plastic bags containing dismembered body parts begin appearing in ordinary city spaces, in an elevator, on a highway, and at the edge of a basketball court, leaving the victims nearly impossible to identify. One part is missing from each body, suggesting the killer is deliberately collecting pieces.2 • 1
Detective Cho (Han Suk-kyu), a discredited officer who had been under internal investigation over his mother's hospital bills, is appointed to lead a special squad on the case, working with the veteran Detective Oh (Jang Hang-seon).5 • 1 The identity of the third victim is established through dental records, which leads the police to Chae Su-yeon (Shim Eun-ha), a museum researcher. The three victims so far all turn out to have been her past or present lovers, and the case is redefined as a series of murders centered on her.2 • 6 Su-yeon cannot easily recall her past, and Cho gradually builds a bond of trust with her as he opens up her sealed memories, which hold the key to the case.2 • 7
Production and release
The film was produced by Kuan Film and distributed by Cinema Service, South Korea's largest Korean-film distribution network at the time.2 • 3 The screenplay is credited to Kong Su-chang, In Eun-ah, Shim Hye-won, and Kim Eun-jeong, with Chang Yoon-hyun also credited as writer and producer on some listings.2 • 1
A genre experiment. Contemporary coverage framed the film as an attempt to establish the thriller, a genre described as nearly barren ground in Chungmuro, the historic center of the Korean film industry. The Dong-A Ilbo called it a "hard gore thriller" and reported that it opened on 115 theaters nationwide, the largest number for any Korean film to that date; Maeil Business put the count at about 110 theaters including 32 in Seoul.5 • 3 The JoongAng Ilbo reported opening records of 34 screens in Seoul and 114 in the regions, surpassing the record set earlier that year by Jagwimo.6 Maeil Business also noted the production budget of more than 2 billion won and the pairing of the country's two leading stars as reasons the film drew attention before release.3
Reception
Han Suk-kyu and Shim Eun-ha received the popularity award at the 37th Daejong Film Awards.2
Critical response was mixed. The Dong-A Ilbo praised the stylish, fast-moving visuals but found that the film's clues and reversals multiplied without the intellectual payoff the thriller genre promises, and judged Shim Eun-ha's performance ordinary against Han Suk-kyu's.5 The JoongAng Ilbo's review concluded that the film remained an ordinary work (범작) rather than a fine one (수작), arguing that it concentrated on the final twist and visual brutality at the expense of psychological relationships between characters.6 The AsianMovieWeb review noted the influence of American thrillers such as Se7en and found the gritty, rain-soaked setting effective but the pacing slow, suggesting the film could have been cut by about half an hour.7
Place in Korean cinema
The film belongs to the wave of Korean genre filmmaking of the late 1990s, when thrillers emerged in Korean film history after the rise of comedy, reflecting social changes since the late 1990s.8 In France it was released under the title La Sixième Victime ("The Sixth Victim").4 The Korean title translates roughly as "tell me something," and the film's key line, spoken by Detective Cho to Su-yeon, asks her to tell him about her memories.6
References
- Tell Me Something, AsianWiki
- 텔 미 썸딩 (1999), Korean Film Archive database (koreafilm.co.kr)
- 세기말적 불안과 대화단절...텔 미 썸딩, Maeil Business Newspaper, November 10, 1999
- Tell me Something, Cinémasie
- 새영화/'텔 미 썸딩' "말해봐, 누가 범인인지", The Dong-A Ilbo, November 11, 1999
- 텔미썸딩〈Tell me something〉, The JoongAng Ilbo
- Tell Me Something (South Korea, 1999) - Review, AsianMovieWeb
- Yuhee Park, From the Era of Melodrama to the Age of the Comedy and the Thriller, Korea Journal 59(4), winter 2019
Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 1990s films › Thrillers › Released 1996 to 1999
Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
Your notes
© 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI. Free to use with credit under the Edgepedia Community License. Developers: read Edgepedia by API or MCP. Embed a reference card.