Noise Fantasia Review: Room-to-Room Dread

Noise delivers in its first two halves with great performances and impressive sound design, but fails to provide a satisfying conclusion.

At first, Joo-young doesn’t put two and two together, but the more she thinks about the ear-piercing sounds she’s been hearing for days in her residence, the more she starts to wonder if these noises are paranormal in nature and the cause of her sister’s disappearance.

What immediately stands out in this South Korean indie horror is the remarkable sound design. The film plunges viewers into chaos from the first scene, creating eerie noises that set the tone and immediately draw the audience into the mystery. Impressive camera work, featuring tight framing and close-ups, elevates the story’s tense atmosphere within its claustrophobic setting, only adding to the movie’s haunting narrative.

Noise also does a fantastic job of laying the story’s groundwork gradually and building unease. The film holds back in terms of jump scares early on, so when those moments do finally arrive, they’re unexpected and frightening. One particular moment involving a terrifying entity genuinely scared me. It completely caught me off guard, and it’s a scene horror hounds will certainly appreciate.

There’s also some fantastic acting on display in the film. Joo-young is a kind-hearted and relatable character who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth about what happened to her sister, Ju-hee (Han Soo-a). Lee Sun-bin pours equal measures of determination and warmth into the role, which makes the audience connect with her as she’s an extremely likable person. This is a nice breath of fresh air, given that so many characters we see in horror films tend to make stupid decisions, yet Joo-young is level-headed and smart.

But the standout performance in the film is given by Ryu Kyung-soo, who portrays Joong-sim. This character, who lives below Joo-young, has also been plagued by these mysterious noises in the apartment building and suspects Joo-young is responsible for them. Each time we see him, there’s clearly something unusual about him. Though the creepy neighbor is a classic horror cliché, it’s executed here remarkably well.

For all of Noise’s intriguing build-up full of suspense, atmosphere, and tension, I couldn’t help but feel that the end didn’t provide the satisfying payoff that I had hoped for. Instead, the conclusion is reminiscent of many other films in the genre, but these projects managed to stick the landing in a much more effective way. For all of the film’s noise it makes in the first two-thirds of the film (pardon the pun), it’s a shame that the reveal fell flat and didn’t quite match the quality of its stellar buildup.

Earlier, I mentioned another film, coincidentally similar to Noise: Netflix’s Wall to Wall. Watching these back to back didn’t help, as I felt like I was seeing the same premise again. Though the sources of the sounds were different, I grew tired of the concept on my second viewing.

Overall, Noise has a strong setup and solid performances, but it loses steam at the end. That said, it features some of the year’s best horror sound design, which is an achievement worth praising.

Noise (Noijeu – 노이즈) was screened at the Fantasia Film Festival on July 17, 2025.