Hawaii International Film Festival 2009

In A MILLION, director Min-ho Jo offers something brilliantly noir and dramatically stimulating. The director of LES FORMIDABLES offers a story about a reality TV show gone awry ? or rather, just as planned in all its hardboiled horror. How far would one go to win $1 million? Eight lucky ? or not so lucky ? people from different walks of life are chosen in a draw to take part in a sensational televised game program. They all have come to Perth, Australia for one thing, to win a million bucks. Soon, however, they discover that the reality TV program's producer Jang (charismatic screen personality Park Heui-soon) really meant it when he said it was a survival game, and the kooky-eyed man makes no secret of it as contestants are soon dropping like flies. With a tightly knit script, seamless acting and layers of tense, involving drama, A MILLION will keep the audience at the edge of their seats. -- Hyo-won Lee