Movie Reviews

Short Film Review: Heaven's Door (2021) by Kim Gyu-tae

Published

2 years ago

May 15, 2024

Short Film Review: Heaven's Door (2021) by Kim Gyu-tae

“You will be punished for your guilt”

The movie begins with a black screener, while what seems to be a newscaster is reporting a work-related accident that led to the death of two workers. It turns out that the sound is coming from the car radio of a man who is parked in an area where he is looking for a specific house he was asked for by a wealthy lady, along with another man, his assistant, Seong-tae. The area is in Daegu, within a forest and includes houses of traditional style. The two discuss various matters, from whether the boss, Yong-bae, is sick and the assistant’s knack for buying lottery tickets, when their employer appears.

She carries with her a jar sealed with what seem to be scrolls and eventually begins something that looks like an intense ritual. The weather suddenly changes, her eyes turn white, and upon the ending of the ritual, a boy appears, which the woman immediately orders to go to work. The boy opens a door which the lady states is the Door to Heaven and then disappears. She then asks from Yong-bae to go inside and check if there is white light there, offering him a huge amount of money. Yong-bae send his money-loving assistant in, for half the money. While Seong-tae is there, the woman reveals what this thing is all about. Eventually, something seems to go wrong.

Although not exactly clear, it seems there is a parallel between what is being said in the intro and what happens later with Kim Gyu-tae, which results in a comment about how the rich and higher ups exploit the workers and the poor, with promises about money, not caring whether they live or die essentially. That the higher up the chain the worse people are and vice versa is also highlighted. The concept of the title also seems to have some significance here, as the rich are portrayed to look for things like eternal life and the poor for a way to be comfortable when they grow old, with money here being what connects the two, although in opposite terms: the poor are constantly in search for it and the rich exploit the fact by offering it to achieve their goals.

This aspect, however, is very difficult to realize, particularly since the nature of the movie moves more towards a supernatural horror film than a social drama, and the comment and the metaphor that communicates it, are barely visible. On the other hand, as a genre movie, “Heaven’s Door” works quite well, creating an atmosphere of disorientation that gradually turns into terror, in the most entertaining fashion. To achieve that, the cinematography by Jang Eun-woo, the editing by Kim Gyu-tae himself and An Ho-sung’s sound come together in the most impressive way, communicating the horror and the dramatic direness of what is happening quite impactfully.

Also of note here is the acting by Song Ah-gyoung, who plays the femme fatale with gusto, emitting a sense of mystery, danger, and a tad of sensualism from every movement.

Kim Gyu-tae has some interesting ideas, like using genre filmmaking to make social comments, while he evidently knows how to create a captivating atmosphere. At the same time, however, the 28 minutes of the short are definitely not enough for his ambitious purpose, with the first past getting almost completely lost. Hopefully, if he gets the opportunity to shoot a feature in the future, he will be able to achieve his goal in much better fashion, as he seems to have the knack for it.

Related Topics:Heaven's Door Kim Gyu-tae Song Ah-gyoung

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Movie Reviews

Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu Review: USA Premiere Report

Published

9 hours ago

January 11, 2026

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Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu Review: USA Premiere Report

U.S. Premiere Report:

#MSG Review: Free Flowing Chiru Fun

It’s an easy, fun festive watch with a better first half that presents Chiru in a free-flowing, at-ease with subtle humor. On the flip side, much-anticipated Chiru-Venky track is okay, which could have elevated the second half.

#AnilRavipudi gets the credit for presenting Chiru in his best, most likable form, something that was missing from his comeback.

With a simple story, fun moments and songs, this has enough to become a commercial success this #Sankranthi

Rating: 2.5/5

First Half Report:

#MSG Decent Fun 1st Half!

Chiru’s restrained body language and acting working well, paired with consistent subtle humor along with the songs and the father’s emotion which works to an extent, though the kids’ track feels a bit melodramatic – all come together to make the first half a decent fun, easy watch.

– Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu show starts with Anil Ravipudi-style comedy, with his signature backdrop, a gang, and silly gags, followed by a Megastar fight and a song. Stay tuned for the report.

U.S. Premiere begins at 10.30 AM EST (9 PM IST). Stay tuned Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu review, report.

Cast: Megastar Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh Daggubati, Nayanthara, Catherine Tresa

Writer & Director – Anil Ravipudi
Producers – Sahu Garapati and Sushmita Konidela
Presents – Smt.Archana
Banners – Shine Screens and Gold Box Entertainments
Music Director – Bheems Ceciroleo
Cinematographer – Sameer Reddy
Production Designer – A S Prakash
Editor – Tammiraju
Co-Writers – S Krishna, G AdiNarayana
Line Producer – Naveen Garapati
U.S. Distributor: Sarigama Cinemas

Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu Movie Review by M9

Movie Reviews

Primate

Published

21 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Every horror fan deserves the occasional (decent) fix, andin the midst of one of the bleakest movie months of the year, Primatedelivers. There’s nothing terribly original about Johannes Roberts’ rabidchimpanzee tale, but that’s kind of the …

Movie Reviews

1986 Movie Reviews – Black Moon Rising | The Nerdy

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

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1986 Movie Reviews – Black Moon Rising | The Nerdy

by Sean P. Aune | January 10, 2026

Welcome to an exciting year-long project here at The Nerdy. 1986 was an exciting year for films giving us a lot of films that would go on to be beloved favorites and cult classics. It was also the start to a major shift in cultural and societal norms, and some of those still reverberate to this day.

We’re going to pick and choose which movies we hit, but right now the list stands at nearly four dozen.

Yes, we’re insane, but 1986 was that great of a year for film.

The articles will come out – in most cases – on the same day the films hit theaters in 1986 so that it is their true 40th anniversary. All films are also watched again for the purposes of these reviews and are not being done from memory. In some cases, it truly will be the first time we’ve seen them.

This time around, it’s Jan. 10, 1986, and we’re off to see Black Moon Rising.

Black Moon Rising

What was the obsession in the 1980s with super vehicles?

Sam Quint (Tommy Lee Jones) is hired to steal a computer tape with evidence against a company on it. While being pursued, he tucks it in the parachute of a prototype vehicle called the Black Moon. While trying to retrieve it, the car is stolen by Nina (Linda Hamilton), a car thief working for a car theft ring. Both of them want out of their lives, and it looks like the Black Moon could be their ticket out.

Blue Thunder in the movies, Airwolf and Knight Rider on TV, the 1980s loved an impractical ‘super’ vehicle. In this case, the car plays a very minor role up until the final action set piece, and the story is far more about the characters and their motivations.

The movie is silly as you would expect it to be, but it is never a bad watch. It’s just not anything particularly memorable.

1986 Movie Reviews will continue on Jan. 17, 2026, with The Adventures of the American Rabbit, The Adventures of Mark Twain, The Clan of the Cave Bear, Iron Eagle, The Longshot, and Troll.