The Day I Died: Unclosed Case


The Day I Died: Unclosed Case is a 2020 South Korean mystery drama film directed by Park Ji-wan in her directorial debut. The film starring Kim Hye-soo, Lee Jung-eun and Roh Jeong-eui, is a mysterious story and about a missing girl supposedly died from a cliff on a dark stormy night. The film was released in theaters on November 12, 2020.

Synopsis

It is a movie about Se-jin who disappeared to the edge of a cliff with only one suicide note left, a detective who tracks events on the edge of life, and an unspoken witness who reached out to them. Kim Hyeon-soo is assigned to investigate the case, but due to bad weather, the body of Se-jin can not been found and the case remains open. Se-jin's death is simply dismissed as a suicide by local detectives. Hyeon-soo has to find the truth behind the suspicious disappearance of the teenage girl.

Cast

Production

Kim Hye-soo was confirmed to appear in June 2019.
In August 2019, Lee Sang-yeop was cast in the film. The film was wrapped up in November, 2019. The distribution press conference was held on November 4, 2020, setting the way to release of the film.

Release

The film was invited at 25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival held in July, 2021 to compete in Bucheon Choice Features section. It was also invited at 23rd Seoul International Women's Film Festival in New Wave section and was screened on August 28, 2021.

Reception

Box office

The film released on November 12, 2020, on 909 screens.
As of February 2, 2021, the film is at 25th place, with gross of US$1.91 million and 233,112 admissions, among all the Korean films released in the year 2020.

Critical response

Going by Korean review aggregator Naver Movie Database, the film holds an approval rating of 9.07 from the audience.

Awards and nominations

YearAwardsCategoryRecipientResultRef.
202157th Baeksang Arts AwardsBest ActressKim Hye-soo
202157th Baeksang Arts AwardsBest Supporting ActressLee Jung-eun
202157th Baeksang Arts AwardsBest New DirectorPark Ji-wan
202157th Baeksang Arts AwardsBest ScreenplayPark Ji-wanWon
2021Chunsa Film Art Awards 2021Best ScreenplayPark Ji-wanNomitated
2021Chunsa Film Art Awards 2021Best Supporting ActressLee Jung-eunNomitated
202142nd Blue Dragon Film AwardsBest FilmThe Day I Died: Unclosed CaseNomitated
202142nd Blue Dragon Film AwardsBest ActressKim Hye-sooNomitated
202142nd Blue Dragon Film AwardsBest Supporting ActressLee Jung-eunNomitated
202142nd Blue Dragon Film AwardsBest New ActressRoh Jeong-euiNomitated
202142nd Blue Dragon Film AwardsBest New DirectorPark Ji-wanWon
202142nd Blue Dragon Film AwardsBest ScreenplayPark Ji-wanNomitated