Insane ~ You Gotta Believe Me! I’m not Crazy!
“Insane” is a 2016 Korean movie, categorized as Crime, Mystery, Medical drama, Legal drama, Thriller, and Suspense; and streaming on KOCOWA+.
SUMMARY: A woman is wrongfully imprisoned in a mental hospital but manages to escape, only to be accused of murder and put in prison to serve time for the crime. An investigative reporter helps uncover the truth.
♦ I’m Not Crazy. But Am I a Murderer?
In “Insane”, Mental Health Law 24 was passed. According to this law, involuntary hospitalization only requires the consent of two guardians and the diagnosis of a specialist.
- Now … imagine if the guardians and the specialist are in cahoots with each other and you need to be hidden from public view.
- Imagine … you’re just walking on the sidewalk in broad daylight and two burly men grab you, throw you into an ambulance, gag you, tie you up and put a bag over your head so you can’t see where you’re going.
Kang Soo-A does not have to imagine because it happened to her. Then, when they finally removed the bag and the gag but not the restraints, a doctor informed her that she was in a mental hospital. Of course, the first words that came out of her mouth were “But I’m not crazy!” Really? After what just happened, does she really think what she said MATTERS? Somebody had her locked away. If she thought that was bad, it got worse. It’s an illegal hospital, and there is no record that she is even in there.
Can we dial this horrifying ordeal up a notch? Let’s take it all the way to WORST DAY OF YOUR ENTIRE LIFE AND THE DAYS FOLLOWING – IF YOU LIVE – WILL ONLY BE EVEN WORSE. The person who locked you up is your stepfather, a man who enjoys a fine reputation, above reproach, and is about to become the next police commissioner. He owns a pharmaceutical company. The person who runs the illegal mental hospital is a friend and a business partner, who does “favors” for him. Plus, all of the drugs used to treat the patients are from the pharmaceutical company your stepfather owns.
Not only that, but as a side hustle, the doctor who runs the hospital is engaged in organ trafficking. Your stepfather doesn’t even know about that! But if he takes your organs and sells them, your stepfather probably won’t care anyway.
Against all odds, Kang Soo-A managed to escape HELL! The hospital burned down. A patient who was mentally ill caused the fire. What’s the first thing she did? According to the police report, she went home and killed her stepfather. The police arrived and arrested her right on the spot. As believable as it sounds, she doesn’t confess to the crime. The burden is upon the investigators and prosecutors to prove her guilt. IT’S THE LAW!
♦ I’m Not Crazy. I Just Need a Job!
Na Nam-Soo had just received the Producer of the Year Award. He was flying high and had just begun a televised interview to talk about his future plans. When you’re on top, you can only go higher. Right? Wrong. The interview had just begun when there was breaking news. The interview was cut off because the breaking news was about the TV show that won him the award: “Investigation 24”. The accusation was that the show was rigged.
So much for flying high. No point arguing or trying to defend himself. Na Nam-Soo got up and walked out of the studio. He took the blame for something his boss did and lost his good reputation. His boss told him to do a TV show about ghosts and make it entertaining. He didn’t want to. But did he have choice? Actually, he did. Somebody gave him a choice.
An unknown person sent him a diary. It was supposed to be the diary of a woman named Kang Soo-A. She says she was wrongfully imprisoned in a mental hospital, but there is no record, and the only one who can prove she’s telling the truth is a male nurse who tried to help her. Na Nam-Soo’s investigative antennas went up. There was no way he was going to waste time on silly ghost stories when, if the diary is true, this is definitely a matter that the public has a RIGHT TO KNOW.
He found the male nurse who was named in the diary and gleaned enough information from him about things that went on in that mental hospital. Na Nam-Soo reasoned that if the nurse was real, then the author of the diary, Kang Soo-A, must also be real. But who is she and where is she? He discovered that she was the stepdaughter of the police commissioner and was in prison for his murder. Na Nam-Soo wasn’t going to stop investigating until he uncovered the truth.
- Either she killed her stepfather or she’s innocent.
- Murderer or not, what happened to her inside that mental hospital should be revealed to the public.
Main Characters:
Viewership and Rating:
- IMDb: 6 out of 10 stars
- My Drama List: 7.5 out of 10 stars
- Letterboxd: 3.1 out of 5 stars
- Amazon customers rated the film: 3.8 out of 5 stars
My personal rating is the same as Letterboxd.
You only need one word to describe the movie “Insane”. That word is DISTURBING.
LINKS OF INTEREST:
Film Review: Insane (2016) by Lee Chul-ha | Asian Movie Pulse
BiFan 2016 Review: INSANE, Kinda Lame | Screen Anarchy
25 Best Korean Thriller Movies That Will Leave You Unsettled | Collider
35 Best Korean Movies of All Time to Stream Now | Good Housekeeping
TRAILER/TEASER:
Filmzie. “Insane: Official Trailer (2016).” YouTube, 4 Feb. 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LiGd-Ry1Rc.
♦
