# The Ghost Game
**The Ghost Game** (강령: 귀신놀이) is a 2025 South Korean horror, mystery, and thriller film directed and written by Son Dong-wan in his feature directorial debut, about six teenagers whose staged séance video for a YouTube contest turns into a real summoning.[1](https://tv.apple.com/kr/movie/the-ghost-game/umc.cmc.49sse465h18d9k8ree95vc3cu?l=en) It premiered at the 29th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival on July 5, 2025 and was released in South Korean theaters on August 6, 2025 by Studio DHL.[1](https://tv.apple.com/kr/movie/the-ghost-game/umc.cmc.49sse465h18d9k8ree95vc3cu?l=en) The film marked the formal screen debut of Kim Ye-rim, known as Yeri of the girl group Red Velvet.[2](https://www.chosun.com/entertainments/movie/2025/07/09/67UMK6RGKSZBVQGQN6MIPS5NRY/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Korean title | 강령: 귀신놀이 (The Ghost Game)[3](https://koreafilm.net/movie/20244537) |
| Director and writer | Son Dong-wan, feature directorial debut[1](https://tv.apple.com/kr/movie/the-ghost-game/umc.cmc.49sse465h18d9k8ree95vc3cu?l=en) |
| Release | Premiered at BIFAN on July 5, 2025; theatrical release August 6, 2025, exclusively at CGV[1](https://tv.apple.com/kr/movie/the-ghost-game/umc.cmc.49sse465h18d9k8ree95vc3cu?l=en) • [4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f15JhqxiVaU) |
| Running time and rating | 94 minutes; rated 15 in South Korea[5](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20244537) |
| Lead cast | Kim Ye-rim (Ja-yeong), Lee Chan-hyeong (Dong-jun), Seo Dong-hyun (Ki-ho), Oh So-hyun (Ye-eun), Kim Eun-bi (Mi-yeon), Park Seo-yeon (Seo-woo)[1](https://tv.apple.com/kr/movie/the-ghost-game/umc.cmc.49sse465h18d9k8ree95vc3cu?l=en) |
| South Korean box office | 72,305 admissions on 224 screens; $516,348 gross as of September 15, 2026[5](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20244537) |
| Festivals | Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, Sitges (Brigadoon section), Lund International Fantastic Film Festival, Fantaspoa[6](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-ghost-game/releases/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Ja-yeong (Kim Ye-rim) and her friends decide to shoot a video titled "Spirit Summoning That Tells You Everything" for a contest with a cash prize, planning to stage the whole event as fiction.[7](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/newfilm.jsp?mode=VIEW&seq=659) Her younger sibling Seo-woo (Park Seo-yeon), who is devoted to Ja-yeong, joins them, and the six head at night to a closed underground water tank of an abandoned building.[8](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=62403)
During filming, curiosity gets the better of the group and, at Ja-yeong's suggestion, they attempt a real séance.[7](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/newfilm.jsp?mode=VIEW&seq=659) Ja-yeong hopes to uncover clues about her older sister, who went missing when they were children.[7](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/newfilm.jsp?mode=VIEW&seq=659) Nothing seems to happen at first, and relief mixes with disappointment; then Seo-woo, playing the medium, vomits black water and collapses, and an answer appears on the talisman where the questions are written: "Come in. Come in. Come in."[8](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=62403) What began as a lighthearted game becomes a curse that threatens the students' lives, leading to a shocking twist.[8](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=62403) • [9](https://sales.studiogenie.co.kr/contents/contents.php?catcode=11000000&page=1&prdcode=2502140001&ptype=view)
## Production and release
The film was produced in 2024 by EO Contents Group, with KT StudioGenie handling international sales.[5](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20244537) Kim Ye-rim's casting as the lead was announced as her formal screen debut after her career as a Red Velvet member, alongside Lee Chan-hyeong, Seo Dong-hyun, Oh So-hyun, and Kim Eun-bi.[2](https://www.chosun.com/entertainments/movie/2025/07/09/67UMK6RGKSZBVQGQN6MIPS5NRY/) Son Dong-wan had previously directed the short films *Cabinet* and *I Heard You Well*.[10](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=108061)
The world premiere took place at the 29th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, in the festival's Korean Fantastic feature section, to which the film was officially invited before release.[11](https://eocontentsgroup.com/bbs/board.php?bo_table=awards) The cast and director walked the festival's red carpet, and the film recorded sold-out screenings as of the early morning of July 4, 2025.[12](https://sports.khan.co.kr/article/202507060307003) It opened exclusively at CGV theaters on August 6, 2025.[4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f15JhqxiVaU) Director Son Dong-wan said he planned the movements of all six actors in detail and sought camera positions that worked as an observer's eye, to sustain tension within the confined space.[13](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/movie/ghostgame/ghostgame_main.htm)
## Festival run and international release
The film was officially invited to the [Brigadoon](https://www.edgepedia.org/brigadoon) section of the 58th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, which Korean press described as one of the world's three major fantastic film festivals alongside Brussels and Fantasporto.[14](https://ent.sbs.co.kr/news/article.do?article_id=E10010304548) The Sitges program listed it in the Brigadoon section with Spanish subtitles.[15](https://sitgesfilmfestival.com/en/film/2025/ghost-game) Further screenings followed at the Korean Film Festival Barcelona in September 2025, the Lund International Fantastic Film Festival in Sweden in October 2025, and, in 2026, at Fantaspoa in Brazil.[6](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-ghost-game/releases/)
Theatrical releases outside South Korea included Vietnam on August 22, 2025, Cambodia on September 22, 2025, Mongolia on October 31, 2025, and Russia/CIS on February 26, 2026.[16](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37285917/releaseinfo/) The film later became available on the streaming service Coupang Play in South Korea.[17](https://www.coupangplay.com/content/0ccdc4e4-aa1a-417e-8a6e-e203e4f2b6f4)
## Box office and reception
In South Korea the film sold 72,305 admissions across a peak of 224 screens, grossing $516,348 as of September 15, 2026 according to the Korean Film Council database.[5](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20244537) [Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo) records a South Korea gross of $498,694 from an opening of $192,650, plus $36,056 in Vietnam and $167,380 in Russia/CIS, for a worldwide total of $702,130.[18](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt37285917/)
Korean critics gave the film a combined Cine21 expert score of 4.33 out of 5 from three reviewers, whose individual scores ranged from 3 to 5.[8](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=62403) The KOFIC trade profile described the séance, staged in a confined and claustrophobic space, as rendered with chilling realism, and credited the film with building tension through the occult element while revealing the unraveling of friendships and long-buried secrets.[7](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/newfilm.jsp?mode=VIEW&seq=659) A Cine21 review found the familiar teen-horror pleasures intact but judged the late-film events somewhat less convincing.[10](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=108061) Audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, where the film had no Tomatometer reviews and fewer than 50 ratings, praised the atmosphere and dark cinematography while finding the séance-gone-wrong story conventional.[19](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_ghost_game)
## Note on the title
A separate 2024 English-language horror film titled *Ghost Game*, directed by Jill Gevargizian, about a couple taking part in an internet challenge of secretly haunting occupied homes, is a different work.[20](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/ghost-game-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdi4nzk1)
## References
1. [The Ghost Game, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/kr/movie/the-ghost-game/umc.cmc.49sse465h18d9k8ree95vc3cu?l=en)
2. [Red Velvet Yeri, formal screen debut with horror film, Chosun (OSEN)](https://www.chosun.com/entertainments/movie/2025/07/09/67UMK6RGKSZBVQGQN6MIPS5NRY/)
3. [The Ghost Game (강령: 귀신놀이), KoreaFilm.net](https://koreafilm.net/movie/20244537)
4. [강령: 귀신놀이 (The Ghost Game) main trailer, YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f15JhqxiVaU)
5. [The Ghost Game (2025), KOFIC/KOBIZ film database](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20244537)
6. [The Ghost Game releases, Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-ghost-game/releases/)
7. [The Ghost Game, KOBIZ New Films profile](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/newfilm.jsp?mode=VIEW&seq=659)
8. [강령: 귀신놀이, Cine21](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=62403)
9. [The Ghost Game, KT StudioGenie sales page](https://sales.studiogenie.co.kr/contents/contents.php?catcode=11000000&page=1&prdcode=2502140001&ptype=view)
10. [Review: 익숙한 하이틴 호러의 맛, Cine21](https://cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=108061)
11. [Awards, EO Contents Group](https://eocontentsgroup.com/bbs/board.php?bo_table=awards)
12. [강령: 귀신놀이 BIFAN red carpet, Sports Kyunghyang](https://sports.khan.co.kr/article/202507060307003)
13. [강령: 귀신놀이 official site, Korea Film](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/movie/ghostgame/ghostgame_main.htm)
14. [강령: 귀신놀이 invited to the 58th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, SBS Entertainment News](https://ent.sbs.co.kr/news/article.do?article_id=E10010304548)
15. [The Ghost Game, Sitges Film Festival](https://sitgesfilmfestival.com/en/film/2025/ghost-game)
16. [The Ghost Game (2025) release info, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37285917/releaseinfo/)
17. [강령: 귀신놀이, Coupang Play](https://www.coupangplay.com/content/0ccdc4e4-aa1a-417e-8a6e-e203e4f2b6f4)
18. [The Ghost Game (2025), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt37285917/)
19. [The Ghost Game, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_ghost_game)
20. [Ghost Game, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/ghost-game-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdi4nzk1)
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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 › Horror films (individual works) › Supernatural horror films › 2020s supernatural horror films › Titles symbols to L*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license