'Streaming' tackles dangers of unfiltered online content

The thriller film “Streaming” explores the impact of unfiltered — and often harmful — content found on video streaming platforms, with the aim of providing viewers with a chance to critically discern the vast amount of information they consume.

"I realized while watching YouTube that people can be influenced easily by accepting unfiltered personal thoughts indiscriminately. These thoughts are heavily reflected in this movie," Cho Jang-ho, the film's director, said during a press conference in Seoul, Monday.

"It would be an honor if our movie encourages the audience to critically accept the good with an objective perspective and filter out the harmful [content].”

“Streaming" revolves around Woo-sang (Kang Ha-neul), the operator of a true crime channel who stumbles upon clues to an unsolved real-life serial murder case and decides to livestream the process of tracking down the culprit.

Kang, who recently made a strong impression in the second season of Netflix series "Squid Game," revealed that he approached his role in this movie as if he were actually livestreaming.

"The biggest challenge was making it feel truly live. Since there was a certain amount of scripted dialogue, acting it out made it feel too rehearsed," Kang said. "I felt like this wasn't the right tone. So I tried acting without thinking about the script at all, but then it felt more like actual livestreaming than a movie. I focused a lot on finding middle ground between [spontaneity and cinematic storytelling]."

He said that he felt the pressure of having to carry the movie alone, but in reality, the film was a collaborative effort.

"When I first saw the script, I thought I was the only one with lines, so I assumed I was the only one in the movie, but when I got to the set, it was not. I discussed the tension that could be created in the movie with the director and the crew. It didn't feel like I was just talking to myself. It felt like there were more actors on set than any other production," he said.

However, he added that he felt extra pressure when shooting long scenes in one take.

"There were scenes that lasted about 10 minutes when we went for a long take, and it was difficult because if we got a mistake at around nine minutes and 50 seconds, we had to go back to the beginning and act out the 10 minutes again," he said.

Cho, also known as the author of his 2017 mystery novel "Rapture 1992" and web novel "Justice," expressed immense trust in Kang, saying that the movie was completed thanks to the actor’s energy.

"I thought from the beginning that it would be difficult to do this movie without Kang Ha-neul because the actor had to capture the audience's attention for a long runtime. I carefully told him because it could be burdensome for him, but he was very enthusiastic. So, I decided to trust Kang’s reaction, passion and energy," the director said.

“Streaming” will be released in theaters on March 21.