Film Review: The Great Flood
- Very Average Joe
- 2 minutes ago
- 3 min read
English Title: The Great Flood
Korean Title: 대홍수
Director(s): Kim Byung-woo
Screenwriter(s): Kim Byung-woo & Han Ji-su
Studio: Hwansang Studios
Released: 2025
Runtime: 1h 46m
Starring: Kim Da-mi, Park Hae-soo, Kwon Eun-seong
Gu An-na (Kim Da-mi) is woken up by her six-year-old son (Kwon Eun-seong). It is raining heavily and then water comes into her apartment (which is not on the ground floor). She is an AI developer and gets a phone call to evacuate to higher floors to be picked up. Son Hui-jo (Park Hae-soo) is sent by the authorities to aid their rescue.
It is soon revealed that humanity is about to become extinct and that An-na has been tasked to complete the emotion engine so that humanity can continue in the form of AI housed in artificial physical bodies, if one can still call that humanity.
The narrative starts off as a natural disaster film in which An-na and her son, who is a little annoying for not doing as he is told, tries to make it to the higher floors.
Thankfully, this is not the entire film. Eventually, An-na and her son do make it to the rescuers. [Minor Spoiler] The film then shifts to the development of the emotion engine using these events as “experience” for the AI. In other words, it is a sci-fi version of Groundhog Day (1993).
Although the plot is clear enough, and the themes of survival and a mother’s devotion are consistent, the shift from escaping the flood to AI development is somewhat jarring. The mother-and-child relationship is the thematic focus, which is appreciated, but it lacks depth.
The reason for developing the AI for a mother and child is that this is considered the smallest unit of society, but the obvious problem is that it lacks the father. To be fair, one more character will make the narrative unfocused in a feature-length film, especially when there is already a lead male character in the form of rescuer Hui-jo.
If one interprets him as a father figure, then he is someone with serious issues but is willing to risk his life to save the mother and child. Nonetheless, one wonders whether the writers are intentionally downplaying the father figure and in turn the family.
Visually, it is nicely produced and the visual tone is consistent despite the shift in the narrative. The effects are not bad. More importantly, there is a good use of longer shots and tracking shots that stay with the character and action.
It would have been a difficult shoot for the cast, particularly Kim Da-mi, as they are drenched for nearly the entire film. Their performances are solid and they should be commended, especially given the conditions.
It is not an absolutely horrible film but even if one can accept the ridiculous and overused premise that AI is treated as real intelligence, then one still has to deal with what is basically a film that shifts from one genre to another even though it seems consistent on the surface. In this regard, it is difficult to buy into it.
Such a story may be better in the form of a shorter work as it is basically a Black Mirror episode minus the “technology used for evil” twist.
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