Movie for 4,000 won? Short horror film ‘4 mins 44 secs’ to hit theaters Nov. 1

The short-form thriller “4 minutes 44 seconds” will hit local theaters next month, following the unusual success of the short film “Night Fishing” starring Son Suk-ku in June.

As the title suggests, “4 minutes 44 seconds” is an eight-episode horror-thriller with each story lasting 4 minutes and 44 seconds. The short-form film follows residents and visitors of the mysterious Bukchon Apartment, where someone disappears at 4:44 p.m. every day. The movie will exclusively open at Lotte Cinema.

The episodes star veteran actor Jang Young-nam, musical actor Ham Yon-ji, K-pop idols Onew from SHINee, Yoo Ji-ae from Lovelyz, Lee Sung-yeol from Infinite, Kim So-won from GFriend and more.

One of the episodes titled “Share House” follows an idol group member Sun-young (Lim Na-young), who encounters a disturbing roommate and faces an unknown terror in her dormitory.

The movie's distributor Lotte Entertainment said tickets were priced at 4,000 won ($3) considering the shorter running time compared to a typical commercial film in theaters.

The reasonable ticket price and short running time will be attractive points to moviegoers and offer a different movie experience, it added.

Experts view such a movie as a refreshing attempt to stimulate the still sluggish local movie industry.

“When you look at recent hits at the theaters, they most likely take an unprecedented approach, in terms of style and format. This is well-matched to the evolving preferences of moviegoers and content watchers, who are faced with options for various TV shows and movies on different platforms,” said film critic Yoon Sung-eun.

In June, Son Suk-ku’s thriller “Night Fishing,” a 13-minute short film, opened exclusively at CGV only for two weeks. The ticket was priced at 1,000 won.

Despite the movie’s unconventional running time and screening duration at the theater, the movie was invited to compete in the short film category at Canada's Fantasia International Film Festival and had the screening extended to a total of five weeks due to its popularity. It attracted some 46,000 theatergoers in just two weeks.