# The Call (콜) (2020 South Korean film)
**The Call** (콜) is a 2020 South Korean psychological thriller film directed by [Lee Chung-hyun](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-chung-hyun) in his feature debut, starring [Park Shin-hye](https://www.edgepedia.org/park-shin-hye) and [Jeon Jong-seo](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeon-jong-seo) as two women living in the same house twenty years apart who are connected by a phone call across time. It was released worldwide on Netflix on November 27, 2020, after its planned theatrical run was abandoned during the COVID-19 pandemic.[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81342505) • [2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/news.jsp?mode=VIEW&pageIndex=1&seq=5438)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Korean title / director | 콜 (Kol), directed by Lee Chung-hyun, his first feature film[3](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=96594) |
| Release | Netflix worldwide, November 27, 2020, at 8:00 AM GMT, with only a limited theatrical footprint[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81342505) • [4](https://asianwiki.com/index.php?title=The_Call) |
| Leads | Park Shin-hye as Seo-yeon (2019) and Jeon Jong-seo as Young-sook (1999)[3](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=96594) |
| Basis | Remake/reimagining of the 2011 British and Puerto Rican film *The Caller*, directed by Matthew Parkhill, with the male roles changed to women[4](https://asianwiki.com/index.php?title=The_Call) • [5](https://v.daum.net/v/20201210070201445) |
| Production | Yong Film Inc.; Korean age rating 15; running time 111 minutes per the Korean Film Council database (112 minutes on Netflix)[6](https://koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20182591) • [7](https://www.netflix.com/title/81342505?src=tudum) |
| Critical scores | 100% Tomatometer from 12 reviews and 78% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes; 7.1/10 on IMDb from about 55,000 votes[8](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_call_2020_kr) • [9](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-call-2020-0) |
| Awards circuit | Paeksang Arts Awards (2021) and Asian Film Awards (2021); six Blue Dragon Film Awards nominations[6](https://koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20182591) • [10](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film509316.html) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye) returns to her childhood home to care for her ailing mother and answers a call on an old cordless landline. The caller, Young-sook (Jeon Jong-seo), lives in the same house in 1999, where she is being abused by her stepmother. The two women form a bond across time and begin giving each other information to change their fates, with dangerous consequences: Young-sook grows into a ruthless serial killer whose actions rewrite Seo-yeon's present.[11](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/best-korean-horror-movies/) • [12](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/my-favorite-korean-horror-movies-and-where-to-stream-them-for-halloween)
The film concentrates on the catastrophe that unfolds as the two women trade information and alter each other's causal chains; reviewers describe it as a time-slip thriller in which Young-sook, living in 1999, uses what she learns from Seo-yeon in 2019 to change both lives.[3](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=96594) Critics noted that the film ignores time-paradox logic in favor of sustained suspense, and that it blends serial-killer thriller, occult imagery, and slasher elements.[3](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=96594)
## Production and release
**From theaters to streaming.** *The Call* was among the first wave of Korean titles that delayed their releases in 2020 as the COVID-19 outbreak pushed back its Korean theatrical date; after repeatedly weighing a theatrical opening from around March, the distributor Next Entertainment World chose a global Netflix launch instead.[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/news.jsp?mode=VIEW&pageIndex=1&seq=5438) • [13](https://www.sisajournal.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=208661) A spokesperson for the distributor told *The Korea Herald* that streaming was "the best way to present our movie to a wide variety of audiences."[14](https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2020/11/02/korean-movies-choose-netflix-over-big-screen-release) The KOFIC database records a small limited theatrical footprint of 70 screens and 1,872 admissions.[6](https://koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20182591)
**Director and source.** Lee Chung-hyun came to the feature after his roughly 14-minute short film drew industry and cinephile attention; in adapting *The Caller*, he changed the roles performed by men in the original into women, and said he was drawn to unpredictable female characters.[5](https://v.daum.net/v/20201210070201445) The film was produced by Yong Film, the studio behind *[The Handmaiden](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-handmaiden)*, *The Silence*, *Luck-Key*, and other titles, a connection through which Lee received the chance to write the script.[15](https://story.ugyo.net/front/webzine/wzinSub.do?subCode=202003&wzinCode=1013)
**Craft.** To contrast the 20-year time gap within the same house, the production carried out digital intermediate work with a British team, described as a first for a Korean film; colorist Vanessa Taylor, whose credits include *The Great Gatsby* and *Avengers: Age of Ultron*, set blue tones for Seo-yeon's despair and red tones for Young-sook's rage and violence.[16](https://sports.donga.com/article/all/20201123/104096804/2) Art director Bae Jeong-yun, who recreated 1997-era Korea for *[Default](https://www.edgepedia.org/default-2018-film)*, built the shared house so that the same structure reads differently with each character's era and circumstances.[16](https://sports.donga.com/article/all/20201123/104096804/2) Editor Yang Jin-mo, who won the [American Cinema Editors](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-cinema-editors) award for *[Parasite](https://www.edgepedia.org/parasite-2019-film)* as the first foreign-language film to do so, used bold inserts and cross-cutting, and composer Dalpalan, a two-time Blue Dragon Film Award music winner for *The Wailing* and *V.I.P.*, wrote music that runs through the whole film rather than per-character themes.[16](https://sports.donga.com/article/all/20201123/104096804/2)
## Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 100% Tomatometer from 12 critics and a 78% audience score, with reviewers praising its high-concept premise and lead performances; IMDb users rate it 7.1/10 from about 55,000 votes.[8](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_call_2020_kr) • [9](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-call-2020-0) Korean critics highlighted Jeon Jong-seo's performance as the film's dominant element, calling her portrayal a memorable villain, while noting that Park Shin-hye's steadier playing anchors the film; some found the repeated use of the core premise in the latter half less fresh.[3](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=96594) • [17](https://seore.org/w/%EC%BD%9C%28%EC%98%81%ED%99%94%29/%ED%8F%89%EA%B0%80) Critics also observed that, where Korean thrillers had usually cast men as the destructive villains, *The Call* is a violent genre film led entirely by women.[3](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=96594)
The film received invitations and nominations at the 2021 Paeksang Arts Awards and Asian Film Awards, and six nominations at the Blue Dragon Film Awards.[6](https://koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20182591) • [10](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film509316.html) It has since appeared on English-language roundups of the best Korean horror films and best Korean films on Netflix.[11](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/best-korean-horror-movies/) • [18](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/a32236619/best-korean-movies-netflix/) Lee Chung-hyun followed it with the Netflix action film *[Ballerina](https://www.edgepedia.org/ballerina-2023-film)*, again with Jeon Jong-seo.[19](https://enews.imbc.com/News/RetrieveNewsInfo/345348)
## References
1. [The Call, Netflix Media Center](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81342505)
2. [CALL Books Netflix Release on November 27, Korean Film Council (KOFIC)](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/news.jsp?mode=VIEW&pageIndex=1&seq=5438)
3. [박신혜x전종서 '콜' 첫 반응, Cine21](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=96594)
4. [The Call, AsianWiki](https://asianwiki.com/index.php?title=The_Call)
5. [쿠키인터뷰 '콜' 이충현 감독, Daum/v.](https://v.daum.net/v/20201210070201445)
6. [CALL (2020), Korean Film Council film database](https://koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20182591)
7. [Watch The Call, Netflix Official Site](https://www.netflix.com/title/81342505?src=tudum)
8. [The Call (2020), Rotten Tomatoes](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_call_2020_kr)
9. [The Call streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-call-2020-0)
10. [The Call (2020), FilmAffinity](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film509316.html)
11. [The 20 Best Korean Horror Movies of All Time, Marie Claire](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/best-korean-horror-movies/)
12. [My favorite Korean horror movies and where to stream them, Tom's Guide](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/my-favorite-korean-horror-movies-and-where-to-stream-them-for-halloween)
13. [장르적 쾌감을 두른 핏빛 폭주, 시사저널](https://www.sisajournal.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=208661)
14. [Korean movies choose Netflix over big-screen release, The Jakarta Post](https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2020/11/02/korean-movies-choose-netflix-over-big-screen-release)
15. [웹진담담, story.ugyo.net](https://story.ugyo.net/front/webzine/wzinSub.do?subCode=202003&wzinCode=1013)
16. [넷플릭스 '콜' 압도적 서스펜스 완성한 웰메이드 프로덕션 공개, 스포츠동아](https://sports.donga.com/article/all/20201123/104096804/2)
17. [콜(영화)/평가, seore.org](https://seore.org/w/%EC%BD%9C%28%EC%98%81%ED%99%94%29/%ED%8F%89%EA%B0%80)
18. [The 24 Best Korean Films Streaming on Netflix Right Now, Marie Claire](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/a32236619/best-korean-movies-netflix/)
19. ['콜' 이충현 감독, 연인 전종서와 넷플릭스 영화 '발레리나' 제작, MBC enews](https://enews.imbc.com/News/RetrieveNewsInfo/345348)
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*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) › 2020–2022 films › Released 2020 to 2021*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 19, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license