An aspiring police officer wakes up after a night of heavy drinking next to an apparent corpse in Next Door. Chan-woo (Oh Dong-min) has been working hard preparing for his police exam when he goes out drinking with friends. The following day, Chan-woo finds himself in the apartment of his noisy neighbours, with an apparent corpse lying in a pool of blood. Chan-woo has to find out what happened and find a way to return to his apartment in time to meet the 6 pm deadline for his police academy application.
Next Door is a comedy-thriller and debut feature for Korean writer/director Ji-ho Yeom. The film’s plot takes place predominantly in a single apartment as the protagonist Chan-woo uses his budding police skills to try and piece together how he ended up in his neighbour’s apartment next to a body. With the clock ticking until his police exam application deadline, Chan-woo has to rush to solve the case and get back to his apartment.
Next Door is a film that comes off like The Hangover if it was a Korean murder mystery. Chan-woo has the difficult task of finding out what happened in his neighbour’s apartment while also avoiding being caught at the crime scene by his landlady and other visitors. The result is a relatively entertaining combination of thriller and comedy, with some interesting twists in the third act.