SXSW 2021 Review: ‘Soak’ Suffers from Camerawork and Pacing Issues, but Amps Up in its Final Moments

Short films highlight some of the most interesting ways to tell a story. There’s something so magical about making the audience feel such emotion in a matter of minutes. When it works, it’s truly beautiful. And when it doesn’t, it just feels like a waste of a short amount of time. I wish I could say “Soak,” premiering March 16th at this year’s SXSW Film Festival as part of the ‘Narrative Shorts Competition’ was the former, but I can think of numerous other ways to better spend a quarter of an hour.

Soak is about a 16-year-old girl named Yeonsoo who is intent on bringing her runaway mother back to her and her father’s home. But as the night goes forward, she realizes that her mother might’ve made the right choice to get away from her controlling father and remarry. She realizes she must make the impossible choice of the new life with her mother and the old one with her father. 

It’s extremely difficult to find pacing in such a short film, so I understand why it’s a little bit off. It’s terribly slow for the first 13 or so minutes, making it difficult to watch. Only in the last couple minutes does it really amp up.

The last couple minutes are quite great, actually. It’s rare to see a film that has no notion of horror turn into a scary experience in a matter of seconds. There’s no monsters or killers, but when Yeonsoo gets a frightening text from her controlling dad and the music swells up intensely, it put me at the edge of my seat, wondering what was going to happen next. That’s impressive to have such a tonal jump.

As mentioned above, the music was easily one of the best elements of the film. It evoked lots of emotion that would be lost in the otherwise emotionless dialogue and action. Every scene seems to drag, with little to no dialogue to keep it interesting. I understand if that’s what the film was going for, but it doesn’t excuse the fact that it makes it not fun to watch.

The camerawork surprisingly bothered me a little bit, considering that it usually doesn’t affect my enjoyment of the film. But right in line with the other aspects, it’s just static and still the whole time. It adds to the drudging nature of the short, barely keeping my attention the entire time. Now, flashy camerawork doesn’t always add to a film, but in a short where it could’ve proven very useful, “Soak” fails to capitalize on it. 

Both Yeonsoo and her mother Mina are played wonderfully by Do Eun Lee and Chaewon Kim, respectively. Mina was the highlight for me, as she seemed very real and true. She, too, is caught between two family members, choosing between taking care of her daughter or a life of her own. Through her enthusiasm and smiles, you can feel that she’s a little bit hurt deep down that she committed to the choice of losing her daughter. Do Eun Lee doesn’t pull off quite the range that Kim has, but she seems relatable nonetheless. She’s a moody teen that is obviously traumatized from the dysfunctional family dynamics between her and her parents. While she occasionally falls into the emotionlessness of the rest of the film, she otherwise does a great job. 

Some of my favorite films are ones full of solitude and silence. But those know how to keep things interesting while still having a low-key energy. Despite great music and acting, “Soak’s” uninteresting plot and execution doesn’t even make its short run-time worth the watch.

*”Soak” is available to watch from March 16th until March 21st at 1 AM CST at SXSW Online.