Cobweb (2023) (Blu-ray) (Hong Kong Version) Blu-ray Region A

Back then, Chungmuro was subjected to heavy censorship under the Park Chung Hee regime, and productions had to pass government censors before and after filming. Nevertheless, director Kim, portrayed by Kim Jee Woon regular Song Kang Ho, is determined to reshoot a different ending for his already wrapped film. Obsessed with his visions of a masterpiece – and his desire for success and industry approval after directing several duds – Kim pushes ahead with two days of reshoots without the approval of the censorship committee or the film studio boss (Jang Young Nam).

The film-within-a-film titled Cobweb is a Housemaid-esque domestic horror with the makjang drama dialed up to ten. The story about lust, betrayal, revenge and the derailing of a rich family is filled with soap opera cliches and histrionics, something that veteran actress Oh (Park Jung Soo) regularly points out as she delivers her evil mother-in-law performance.

The drama extends to the film set with schedule-packed lead starlet Han Yu Rim (Krystal Jung) trying to leave the set and requesting a double for difficult scenes. Like the characters they play, Han Yu Rim and married lead actor Kang Ho Se (Oh Jung Se) are carrying on an affair. Meanwhile, Kim's team takes ludicrous measures to thwart anyone who thwarts the filming process, from uncooperative actors to government officials. Amid the manic happenings are hints of mystery concerning a fire on a previous film set that claimed the life of a director, as well as questions about Kim's mental state.

Cobweb spins a tangled web that is spread too thin. Though the time period and censorship angle offer meaty possibilities, most of the challenges encountered on set are played for farcical laughs. No one would accuse Cobweb of being all that deep and meaningful. However, it feels fitting that a film about the messy, over-the-top consequences of a director's egotistical creative crisis would have the meta air of a chaotic vanity project. When viewed as a high-concept black comedy, Cobweb entertains with its fast pacing, frantic humor and absurdist turns while impressing with its technical constructs and cinematography by Kim Ji Yong.

Cobweb also serves as a love letter to 1960s-70s Korean cinema, with its various references sprinkled throughout and its film-within-a-film, presented in black-and-white, that parodies soapy horrors of the time. To its credit, Cobweb successfully keeps your interest in what's happening in the film-within-a-film, which ends with a wondrously horrific and bewildering final image.