South Korean cinema is on everybody’s lips right now with the Netflix international chart topper, Squid Game having provided a fresh reminder that the country’s cinema is at the top of its game. Unfortunately, though, there are so many South Korean gems out there that don’t get the international visibility a streaming service like Netflix provides. One such case was Huh Jung’s low-budget mystery shocker, Hide and Seek, which came out of nowhere to take pole position at the box office when it released in 2013. Despite not getting as much attention abroad, actor/director/producer Joel David Moore instantly saw potential in adapting the film’s timely exploration of gentrification for a Western world setting.
Opting to write and direct this new take on Jung’s debut feature himself, Moore provides a shocking social commentary around the crisis in affordable housing. Starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Velvet Goldmine, “Dracula”, Mission: Impossible III), Jacinda Barrett (Poseidon, The Human Stain), Joe Pantoliano (Memento, Matrix), Sue Jean Kim (First Reformed, X/Y) and Mustafa Shakir (Brawl in Cell Block 99, “Luke Cage”), Hide and Seek centres on Noah (Rhys Meyers) who, following the death of his wealthy father, goes in search of his outcast brother, in the hope of making amends and sharing the family fortune. Unbeknownst to Noah, his family harbours a dark secret that he must solve by following a series of cryptic clues that lead him on a terrifying trail to the truth that threatens to tear him apart from the ones he loves the most.
In anticipation of the film releasing in cinemas, on digital and On Demand beginning 19 November, SCREAM caught up with David Moore to discuss addressing themes related to the widening rift between the upper 1% and the lower class, his conversations with the original film’s director, and a few of his imminent acting endeavours, which include roles alongside Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman, and the long-awaited return of Norm Spellman in two Avatar sequels which recently wrapped.
Words: Howard Gorman
