Today’s quick review: RV: Resurrected Victims. Seven years after his mother (Kim Hae-soo) was killed in a robbery, prosecutor Seo Jin-hong (Kim Rae-won) is shocked when she comes back to life, seeking revenge on her killer. As Seo reopens the case on his mother’s murder, he finds evidence of a cover-up by Son Young-tae (Sung Dong-il) of the NIS. Meanwhile, criminal psychologist Lee Soo-hyun (Jeon Hye-jin) suspects Seo of being the killer.
RV: Resurrected Victims is a Korean supernatural mystery about a murder victim who comes back for revenge. The reappearance of Choi Myung-sook sets off a series of events that unearth old secrets and threaten to ruin Seo Jin-hong’s life. RV: Resurrected Victims has a unique premise and a plot that twists and turns. However, the two halves of the story do not mesh well, making the movie less than the sum of it parts.
At its core, RV: Resurrected Victims is a murder mystery about a seven-year-old cold case. The movie takes a long time to reveal enough clues to get going, but once it does, it evens out into an intriguing mystery. Different characters approach the case from different angles, and there are enough layers to the mystery to make it worth following to the end.
However, RV: Resurrected Victims does not live up to its full potential. The resurrection of Seo’s mother serves as an inciting incident but otherwise impacts the plot only sporadically. As such, the premise of vengeful dead goes largely unexplored. The mechanics of the plot are also shaky. Some of the twists are not fully justified, and the movie does a poor job of framing key aspects of the conflict, especially early on.
As such, RV: Resurrected Victims gets caught between two different ideas without living up to either of them. Those hoping for a macabre story about the return of the dead will find that the movie only touches on the idea briefly. Those hoping for a chilling cold case will have better luck, but a slow start and a couple of missteps will dampen their enthusiasm. Only give it a try if you are willing to sift the good ideas from the mistakes.
For a much more intense psychological horror movie about death and guilt, check out The Machinist. For a supernatural mystery with a lighter touch, try The Sixth Sense. For a more comedic take on the dead seeking justice, try R.I.P.D.
[5.7 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7243750/). I give it a 6.0 for the makings of a good mystery let down by mediocre execution.