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Cobweb review: A funny, dark film about making a film

Cobweb hits close to home.

It shows all the things that could possibly happen (and go wrong) in a film set. And while a lot of the things depicted in the film might come across as exaggerated, I assure you, everything is totally possible inside the four walls of a set during the many times I’ve been in one.

Cobweb is a 2023 South Korean film directed by Kim Jee-woon. Being meta in its essence, this dark comedy movie is about director Kim Yeol (played by Song Kang-ho), in the 1970s, and how he believed his film would be a masterpiece if only he could reshoot the ending before it premieres. But, as film production goes, not everything falls into place for director Kim with only less than two days to reshoot.

The movie in itself is light and easy to watch — with dark scenarios (both literally and figuratively) happening almost continuously which filled the theatre with cringing reactions (due to the mishaps happening in the film) and outbursts of laughter.

Without spoiling anything, Cobweb has multiple layers of different socioeconomic aspects if you want to dissect it. But it could also be taken lightly by just going for the ride of ups and downs in the life of a filmmaker.

For one, it shows how in film (or any industry for that matter) is totally challenging when you don’t have a solid team with the same vision. You’ll see director Kim having problems left and right due to his actors and other talents, his set, and even the producer — Mr. Baek (played by Shin Sung-pil) who is closely watching their every move.

Mr. Baek’s presence alone is like watching a sitcom in itself since the film crew didn’t really get approval to reshoot the ending of the film which resulted in them going rogue and shooting behind the back of the producer. This formula alone already lets you imagine scenes of the director and his crew sneaking about to try and shoot.

Another takeaway is seen from the role of Shin Mi-do played by Jeon Yeo-been who handles the financial aspect of the movie they’re making. She reads director Kim’s script with the tweaked ending and became a believer of the director’s vision. She’s basically the one who gave the go signal to shoot in secret just to pull off the film’s new ending. Cobweb shows that it only takes one person who believes in you to be able to pull off almost impossible feats, and I personally find that powerful.

There is also a story of redemption for the film’s director. He has been known to produce his debut film which was critically acclaimed by the audience but a series of flops shortly followed after. He thought that his film with a reshot ending would be “a masterpiece” and would break his pattern of shallow drama films.

Apart from those, there is also a film-within-a-film treatment in the form of the actual movie they’re making. It intercuts with the movie as a black and white film so as the audience, you witness all the hullabaloo happening behind the scenes and at the same time, see the final version as well. And during the climax of their movie with the ambitious camera treatment of a long scene taken in one continuous shot, you simply enjoy it further, and is quite a treat being able to see two parallel films in one timeline.

Cobweb is not without faults, though. I feel like some of the characters were unnecessary like the actor who plays detective which, for me, didn’t really add a lot to the pool of characters for the film. A few of the scenes seemed like scenarios were pushed hard for the effect of humor, but felt shallow in my opinion.

Still, it was successful in contrasting light, humorous scenes with dark, disastrous scenarios which made the film enjoyable as a narrative.

Cobweb opens in cinemas on October 4 and is produced by Anthology Studios and globally distributed by Barunson E&A, the same studio that produced Parasite. 

Cobweb is exclusively distributed in the Philippines by TBA Studios. The same company that brought award-winning films such as Everything Everywhere All At Once and the box-office romantic drama Past Lives to the Philippines.