Sorum requires a lot of work on the viewer's part in order to really work ... certain key elements of the film's mystery are merely glimpsed the first time around, but it leaves such an intriguing aftertaste in your mind that you'll want to see it again to make sure you really did see what you think you saw. The brief synopsis on the back of the box sets it up as a ghost story or even a riff on Roman Polanski's underrated seventies shocker The Tenant, but it's something else. It's a ghost story in which the ghostly elements are understated, and in their place an examination of the seriously dysfunctional relationships between its characters takes the lead.

Sun Yeong, a taxi driver, moves into a run down South Korean apartment complex that is actually owned and operated by the local barber. The previous tenant, a university student, burned to death in a fire, and everyone in the building has some loose ends left with the man. Remaining in the building are his girlfriend, a fiftysomething failed publisher and aspiring writer who seems to have had a mentorial relationship with him and a couple down the hall whose own problems are infinitely more serious than any business they may have had with the dead man.

The fellow down the hall drinks, gambles and beats his wife, Youg-Hyun, who soon enters into an ambiguous relationship with Sun Yeong. The woman might be a little crazy (she's lost her young son in just about every sense of the word) and you figure living with her brute of a husband can't be doing much to help her state of mind.

I'll take you as far in as the end of the first act, because the film's biggest pleasure is in uncovering its mysteries, but by the end of that first act Sun Yeong's husband is dead, but whether it's an accident or not is up for debate.

This is definitely a movie that rewards multiple viewings.

Tartan has released Sorum under their Asia Extreme label and it is certainly extreme (extremely weird!) and even the 'making of' is a little strange to watch. It's laid out as a series of interview and behind the scenes montage segments, and it definitely highlights the film's more lurid elements. Like casting a cadaver mold of one of its cast members, and manages to keep self praise among the cast and crew to a refreshing minimum. It's actually slower paced than the movie (and the movie does move at a very daydreamy, leisurely pace) but you do get a lot more of the actual feel of things behind the scenes as well.

The fine transfer is able to handle a movie that makes heavy use of shadows and misdirected lighting. With optional subtitles and a sound mix that is up to the challenge of a sound design that is heavy on ambient mood and fairly light on crashing noises.

A series of trailers for both the film and other Asia Extreme releases round out the extras. It says something about this movie in that there's no way a trailer could convey everything that it throws at you over the course of its 112 minute running time.