In this sixth entrance, in the Whispering Corridors Universe, we face some events that occurred in real life.
Alma Mater (titled as The Humming for international release) tells the stories of Eun Hee and Ha Young that intertwine when the first accepts the position as the vice-president of the high school where the later goes.
Eun Hee graduated from said high school, several years ago, but she doesn’t remember much from her days as a student there, she comes back to face these flashbacks she keeps experiencing and to try to find herself again.
Ha Young is a troublemaker, according to all the school staff and classmates, she is victim of bullying and takes refuge in the school’s abandoned bathroom, where she can hear a humming, the ghost’s sound that many students say inhabits there and that she thinks is her deceased friend.
Through the whole film we can see how Eun Hee suffers from hallucinations and a ghost that keeps chasing her, no matter where she is. But at the same time the ghost helps her with some of the horrible and unethical behavior the school staff have.
Truth will keep slowly unveiling and even if it feels more of a drama than a horror film, is because reality is far more complex than a ghost or possession story.
The last part of the movie is a bit rushed, because they are trying to tie up loose ends and this brings several twists that will probably confuse some people.
Sadly, this part, because is attached to a big part of South Korea’s history, is not going to make much sense to international audience, but if you are interested, I highly recommend to read about the “Gwangju Uprising” so you have some notion about why it happened in that way and the trauma.
Time to time a bit predictable, but the twists are good (even if they are rushed) and it has a good, strong social commentary about neglected teenagers, abuse in school from teachers and classmates, influence peddling, etc.
But apart from all this, Kim Suh Hyung’s excellent performance is the strongest card it has, she is the only actor that has been invited to come back to the Whispering Corridors film series.
We can see familiar faces from some horror movies, especially from the Horror Stories film series and of course the pretty popular singer Bibi.
Not the strongest in the series, but after 12 years since the last one, “A Blood Pledge”, it definitely is a good comeback.
Mubi and Google Play already have the trailer in their streaming platforms, scheduled as a new release but date is still TBA.
You can see the trailer here:
