Lingering (film)

Lingering is a 2022 South Korean supernatural horror film written and directed by Yoon Eun-gyeong. The film's original title is Hotel Leikeu (호텔 레이크).

Plot
Yoo-mi's father passed away many years ago. Since then, she and her younger sister have lived with their widowed mother in a tiny house that they inherited. But soon the poor family suffers a new loss: their mother dies under tragic circumstances, and now Yoo-mi has to take care of her younger sister. Yoo-mi decides to take the girl to the best friend of the deceased parents. The old friend owns a cozy hotel by the lake, and the girls visited the place in the childhood to enjoy the pristine nature. But, arriving at the hotel, Yoo-mi begins to suffer from a bad feeling and decides to stay overnight. Next morning, the younger sister disappears without a trace. Now, the older sister has to find her.

Reception
Lindsay Traves of CGMagazine wrote, "Though Lingering has a few too many rising actions to feel focused, it’s ultimately a beautiful film. It does well with the Korean horror tradition of family focused stories and fear arising from familial relationships. The appearance of the simple scenes is certainly it’s strength in the creation of scares". Don Anelli of Asian Movie Pulse stated, "Overall, “Lingering” manages to get quite a lot right. One of its better aspects is director Yoon-een's ability to offer up a heartwarming story at the center between Yoo-mi and Ji-yoo. Doing the journey as a favor for her friend, the bond that develops, as a result, is impressively handled. Yoon-een makes it so it's quite possible to believe they are related through the interactions and protective nature that forms here..Once we're aware of the protective and motherly focus at the center of the film, the slow emergence of the horror elements towards Ji-yoo become all the more frightening."

Cast

 * Se-yeong Lee as Yoo-mi
 * Park Ji-young as Gyeong-seon
 * So-yi Park as Yoon Ji-yoo
 * Yeong-ju Seo as Sang-woo
 * Su-ji Jeon as Choi Yoon-hee