The Great Flood (2025): Drowned in Grey Waters
2025 • Kim Byung-woo • 1.85:1 • Jump to Gallery ↓
As the title makes extremely clear, Kim Byung-woo’s The Great Flood is a film that takes us underwater. As with most disaster movies, the catastrophe often dominates the screen. However, cinematographer Kim Tae-soo focuses on Kim Da-mi’s expressive face as often as possible to convey the intimate human drama amidst the chaos.
Like many contemporary films, the colors appear muted, and the blue of the ever-growing ocean tends to turn grey. This makes the occasional appearance of the sun feel as though the image has been dipped in gold. The color is also used to provide a sharp contrast between the more sci-fi elements of the film and the crumbling world.
This palette shift is another way of playing with the limited space of the apartment building, a vertical prison that is more than meets the eye, with its individual apartments built on the same layout, but each containing its own universe. Even the constant falling rain and rising water level never manage to completely drown the film’s visual ambitions or the interesting computer-generated effects used to achieve them. The result is probably best appreciated if watched on a rainy day.
Technical Specs:
- The Story: After a flood leaves a researcher and her young son trapped in their apartment building, a dangerous mission is launched to ensure their escape and secure the future of humanity. Read my review of The Great Flood.
- Actors: Kim Da-mi, Park Hae-soo, Kwon Eun-seong, Jeon Hye-jin, Park Byung-eun.
- Director: Kim Byung-woo
- Year: 2025
- Cinematographer: Kim Tae-soo
- Origin: Korean Cinema
- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Genre: Sci-Fi
