Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Jin-seok, 21-year-old, moves into a new house with his family. He suffers from a slight schizophrenia but he carries an ordinary life under the warm care of the family. His older brother Yu-seok is a decent college student, a mentor, and role model for Jin-seok. One night, his beloved brother is kidnapped by unidentified assailants before Jin-seok's eye. Jin-seok can’t recognize their faces, but can remember only the VIN that matches with no car. After long silence of 19 days, suddenly Yu-seok returns home, but remembers nothing which had happened in the meantime. And soon Jin-seok feels Yu-seok is a total stranger.
Forgotten is a tightly constructed Korean thriller with a genuinely surprising and well-executed twist that recontextualizes the entire film. The plot is its standout strength — layered, unpredictable, and emotionally resonant, with the brother relationship at its core. The twist ending is earned and hits hard, elevating it well above average. Novelty is high because the film subverts the unreliable narrator conceit in an unusually clever way, using the protagonist's schizophrenia as misdirection while delivering a revenge narrative with real moral weight. Acting is solid but not exceptional — the leads carry their roles competently without reaching memorable heights. Cinematography is serviceable and occasionally stylish but doesn't distinguish itself beyond genre competence.