Welcome back to Movie Recaps. Today I will show you a 2018 South Korean superhero film,
titled Psychokinesis. Spoilers ahead! Watch out and take care.
In Seoul, South Korea, Shin Roo-mi runs a very successful fried chicken restaurant at
a very young age. She hasn't gone to college because she wants to work to help her mother,
who had to make an extra effort after her father abandoned them when she was just a child.
Roo-mi and the owners of the other shops in the neighborhood find themselves in trouble when a
mob-run construction company, Tae-san, buys the land and plans to demolish all the buildings in
order to build a large shopping mall for tourists without compensating the small business owners in
the process. One night, Roo-mi is woken up by a group of hired thugs that arrives at the area
and forcibly takes her out of her own place. Her mother arrives shortly after and isn't
allowed to enter either, so she gets in her van and drives through them to make them move away.
However, her plan is short-lived: the men quickly regroup and drag her out of the van as well,
only to drop her on the ground when she tries to struggle out of their grasp. She hits her head
on the edge of the sidewalk and instantly loses consciousness, causing the thugs to
back away as the neighbors arrive to help a crying Roo-mi and take them to the hospital.
Sadly, her mother dies during surgery, and as she cries one last tear, a meteor lands on
the mountains and infuses the local spring with a special energy. The next morning, Roo-mi's father,
Shin Seok-heon, drinks that water when he visits the area and notices it has a bad taste.
Afterward, he goes to his job at the bank, where he works as a security guard. While chatting with
the cleaning lady, he shows her how he always steals coffee packets from the waiting room,
sometimes toilet paper too, and encourages her to do the same as he shares one with her.
He also complains about an upset stomach, which he blames on the spring water.
Hours later, when his shift is over, the other guard scolds him for always arriving late, but he
doesn't care and calls him a nagger. He also sees the cleaning lady being scolded by their superior,
who has found all the coffee packets she stole. Seok-heon pretends he doesn't see them and walks
away, but he does think the cleaning lady had been dumb for taking so many at the same time, making
it noticeable. Later in the evening, he is having a snack at a small market when his stomach starts
hurting rather badly. As he agonizes on top of the table, various objects around him start moving on
their own, and suddenly, all the tables and chairs around him move back as if they had been pushed.
At least the pain is gone now, but Seok-Heon doesn't have much time to enjoy his newfound
relief: the shop owner isn't happy with what he's done with his table, so he kicks him out.
Moments later, Seok-Heon gets back to his very dirty and small apartment and lies down on the
mattress as he puts a cigarette in his mouth. When he reaches out to grab the lighter, it
flies directly to his hand, which freaks him out a little. However, he doesn't get to examine the
situation much further because he's interrupted by his phone ringing: it's his daughter,
letting him know her mother has died. Seok-Heon puts on an old suit and goes to the funeral,
where he walks past Roo-mi, not recognizing her at first because he hasn't seen her in years.
Their meeting is rather awkward, and they don't get to talk much anyway because the funeral is
suddenly crashed by President Min, the man in charge of Tae-san's operations, and his thugs.
Roo-mi calls him out for coming, saying they should only see each other at court,
but Min pretends to be upset and stressed, saying her mother died while driving and they shouldn't
be blamed for it. Furious, Roo-mi tries to kick them out, but before things can get violent,
her lawyer Kim Jung-hyun cuts in and tells Min this should be decided by the law.
Before leaving, Min tries to give her condolence money, but Roo-mi turns it down. While the
neighbors comfort her, Jung-hyun introduces himself to Seok-heon and takes him around the
neighborhood to show him the damage the thugs have done to the local businesses. Seok-heon looks a
bit sad when he sees the restaurant destroyed but doesn't get involved in the conversation,
he just accuses Jung-hyun of only helping Roo-mi to get in her pants before leaving. On his way
home, he remembers the cold way Roo-mi looked at him and makes an angry gesture with his hand,
causing a pile of trash to be thrown back as if he had pushed it. He remembers what he had done with
the lighter and rushes back to his apartment, where practicing with the lighter proves his
theory: he has telekinetic powers. Soon he's moving every object on the floor at the same time.
Afterward, he goes to visit his fellow guard at the bank and asks him if illusionists make good
money, the man tells him of the nightclub down the street where some performers make up to a million
a night. The next morning, after leaving her mom's body at the cemetery alcoves, Roo-mi returns with
her father and friends to the shopping arcade where all the shop owners are hiding from the
thugs that are camping down the street. They have been around the area a lot, breaking windows,
leaving graffitis, and causing scenes. Jung-hyun asks them to be patient while he continues to meet
with the prosecutor, but most of them believe the law will be bought by the construction company.
While discussing how to protect the place, Mr Kim and his wife propose to get a bit more violent,
perhaps even using molotov bombs like they've seen other rebels do. The thugs have been violent with
them, after all, but Jung-hyun thinks that will only make them look worse in the eyes of the
public. Seok-heon interrupts the conversation then to tell everyone this is too dangerous and
they can't win, so they should all find a new job and Roo-mi should allow him to help her,
perhaps even go to college as well. This attitude infuriates the neighbors who start yelling at him,
so Roo-mi kicks him out. In the evening, Seok-heon goes to the nightclub and shows his powers to the
owner, who immediately hires him as a performer. The following day, Roo-mi and Jung-hyun meet with
the prosecutor's supervisor, but he doesn't bring good news. The autopsy report isn't enough to
prove anything, since it only shows the bruise and Roo-mi's mother could've acquired it by falling
herself. The only other evidence they had was a security camera from a nearby car, but the owner
claimed it was fake after Tae-san bought him out. After lunch, Jung-hyun insists on helping her get
her van out even if he has other things he should be doing. When she arrives at her neighborhood,
she ignores Seok-heon, who has been waiting for her after she didn't pick up any of his calls.
He asks her to have a private chat, and once they're far from curious ears, he tells her
he wants her to live with him and go to college, and that he's earned enough money to support her.
To prove it, he uses his powers to make some silly tricks with a tie, then makes various objects in
the room float, but Roo-mi doesn't believe him, thinking they're just parlor tricks. She gets
rather angry and calls him very irresponsible for wasting time with magic tricks, pointing out he's
just running away the same way he did when she was ten. Seok-heon tries to explain he divorced his
wife to protect her and Roo-mi from the debts his father left him, but Roo-mi doesn't believe this
is the only reason: she clearly remembers how he pretended not to see her the day he left. Crying,
she says having him trying to act like a dad after so long is disgusting, and leaves. While walking
away, he notices Min and his men getting in their cars ready to attack and decides to follow them.
Back in the arcade, the shop owners are alerted of this, so Mr. Kim and his wife go to find the
police while the others barricade the entrances. When the thugs arrive, they manage to break the
barrier and get in, assaulting all the neighbors while Min's assistant records everything with
his camera. The shop owners are clearly at disadvantage here, but soon things turn in
their favor when Seok-heon arrives and begins using his powers. He pushes all thugs back,
tossing them around or even throwing things at them until they're separated from the civilians.
These men get scared quickly, not listening to Min when he orders them to attack. Only one of
them dares to come forward, and Seok-heon twists his arm and makes him float in front of everyone.
Mr. Kim returns with the police then, and everyone is taken to the precinct,
where both sides start arguing and blaming each other for what happened. The officer isn't happy
with all these people making a scene in his office, so he decides to watch the recording
and decide from there. The video shows Seok-heon using his powers, so of course the cop thinks it's
all a performance. Without any proper evidence to arrest anyone, he sends them all away. The shop
owners show sad expressions at first, but as soon as they are far enough from the precinct,
they start laughing and celebrating having finally won one battle again Min and his men, and they
start gaining some hope now they have Seok-heon on their side, even if Roo-mi doesn't look too amused
by the idea of having him around so much. Later in the evening, the thugs that are camping outside
the neighborhood see some trash floating around, and they run away when they see their car joining
it. It's Seok-heon, who is using his powers to create an extremely strong barricade around
the market to protect the local businesses. When Jung-hyun asks him how he acquired these powers,
Seok-heon says he thinks they were given to him by his ex-wife so he could be a better father.
Then, Jung-hyun tells Roo-mi that her father had only been against this plan because he doesn't
want her to get hurt, and the reason why he gave Roo-mi a name that means "lowly" and "weak" is
because of an old tradition that says ghosts would only take kids with noble-sounding names,
not because he thought badly of her. Meanwhile, the men that had been camping at the market go
back to Min and tell him they want to quit because they're scared, but he doesn't have time for them:
he's worried because he's received a call from the company owner, who isn't happy with
the lack of progress. The next day, Roo-mi gives an interview to a small local channel,
hoping to get some support from the public, and reluctantly accepts to have lunch with her dad.
She tells him he should see a doctor in case these powers are damaging his body, but he
promises he is fine. At the same time, Min and his assistant are having lunch with Director Hong,
the owner of the company who can go from nice and smiling to absolutely nuts in seconds.
After discussing the food, she calls for her own thugs to come in and beat Min up while she
records herself on the phone pretending she doesn't know these violent people and she's
also a victim - this is a strategy her legal team provided so she doesn't get sued later.
When they start discussing business, Hong reveals she already knows about Seok-heon because she
saw the video, and Min swears they could easily evict all the shop owners if it wasn't for him.
Hong tells him this is something very simple that she'll take care of. Later in the evening,
a recording of Seok-heon using his powers appears on tv, and a so-called expert claims
he's using special shockwave weapons given to him by North Korea. Forty-eight hours later,
two cops show up by the barricade to arrest Seok-heon, since his bank employers accuse him
of theft. Thinking it's just a misunderstanding that can be cleared up without causing a scene,
Seok-heon accepts to go with them, only to be handcuffed and kept in custody. Roo-mi calls
Jung-hyun to ask for his help, and he promises he will be there soon before picking up another
call with even worse news: it's the prosecutor, informing him that one of Tae-san's employees
has turned himself in for killing Roo-mi's mother. This is all part of Hong's plan. They've paid off
one of their men that was desperate for money to quickly close the murder case, then she's ordered
Min to close his company and start another under a different name and draw up a new contract to
legally demolish the local businesses. Hong uses her connections to gain support from the police,
so after Seok-hun is removed from the equation, a large group of officers arrives at the market,
led by Min and his thugs. Jung-hyun calls Roo-mi to tell her all of this and ask her
to run away, but Roo-mi hangs up on him after expressing her wish to fight until the end.
Meanwhile, Hong visits Seok-heon at the precinct to make him an offer: he should work for her and
her company, or she'll release a statement that marks him as dangerous for the public.
She also jokes about a hidden option three, being him actually going out there and winning the
fight, which she thinks is impossible. Hong says she'll give him some time to think about it before
giving him her business card and leaving. With the presence of the press around them, the cops try to
advance against the barricade, but Roo-mi and her friends keep them at bay by using molotov bombs.
They have no choice to run away, however, when the police bring over an excavator that they start
using to destroy the barricade. While everyone runs, Roo-mi falls and sees Mr. Kim is stuck under
some debris. She goes to him and helps him get out at the same time the barricade explodes, pushing
them both away from the area. Fortunately, the other rioters find them and help them come inside.
The police officers manage to break into the market area, and now they've surrounded every
entrance, it's almost impossible for Jung-hyun to get in to help. He calls Roo-mi, who is with
the other shop owners at the arcade trying to keep the door closed, and he tells her everyone should
escape to the roof or they'll get arrested. All this is being shown on tv, so Seok-heon learns
about it when the cops tune in. They turn the tv off when they see him watch though,
so Seok-heon uses his powers to take a phone from one of the officers and see what's going on.
Remembering the last time he failed his daughter, he decides he won't allow this to happen again and
proceeds to break his handcuffs before opening a hole in the cell's door. With an explosion, he
escapes the precinct by jumping through a window and landing near Hong, and as soon as he sees her,
he revengefully destroys her car. He gets away by discovering he can use his telekineses to fly, but
after a few miles, he hits a building and falls to the ground. A giant screen that shows the riots
reminds him not to give up, so after taking a couple of big leaps that push away the cars on the
streets, he takes flight once again. Back in the neighborhood, Roo-mi and the others all make it
to the roof except for Mr. Kim, who is pushed off by the police and is left hanging on the railing
of the stairs. The cops start aiming their water cannons at him, causing him to slip and fall, but
Seok-heon arrives just in time and rescues him in mid-air. He leaves him on the roof of a building
far from the area before flying back, ready to help until he accidentally crashes against a
portable building suspended on a crane that the police are using to get more cops on the roof.
Seok-heon bounces off this box and enters the building through a window to find himself
surrounded by more officers, who attack him with a fire extinguisher to blurry his vision.
A pile of cops jumps on Seok-heon and keeps him on the ground, but this is still not enough,
and his powers easily push them away. Using some furniture to destroy the windows, he flies away,
ready for more action. In the meantime, Jung-hyun has managed to reach the roof of a nearby
building, and he puts down a staircase between both roofs so that his friends can cross over.
Unfortunately, it's too late for Roo-mi, who is captured by the cops in the suspended box. Another
group of officers arrives through the normal stairs and starts assaulting the shop owners
until Seok-heon arrives and pushes them all away. Once again, all the cops jump on him together, but
they aren't a match for his powers and he easily knocks them out while Jung-hyun helps everyone
cross over. After taking care of all the remaining police officers, Seok-heon uses his powers to push
every neighbor to the other roof in one go before going to look for his daughter. The suspended
box starts losing stability, but Min tells the cops not to be cowards and stay there to arrest
everyone. The crane suddenly hits a building by accident and one of the box suspenders breaks,
causing an officer to slip out, only barely saving himself by holding on to the open door. Roo-mi
sees this and tries to help him, first alone but soon with other cops helping her as her father
finally comes over and makes an extra effort with his powers to bring the box over to the roof.
When the portable building lands, the shaking makes Roo-mi fall, but Seok-heon doesn't hesitate
and flies after her, rescuing her right before she hits the ground. After apologizing to her for
everything, she leaves her with her friends and asks Jung-hyun to take good care of her before
flying away to meet Min. He tells him they've won right before punching him, but afterward,
he puts up no resistance and turns himself in to the police, who waste no time and arrest him. Four
years later, Seok-heon is released from prison and is picked up by Jung-hyun, who tells him he's
engaged to Roo-mi. When they drive by the area her old restaurant used to be at, there's nothing
but an unoccupied plot; it turns out Tae-san's project was not profitable and construction has
been delayed. When night falls, they make it to a new restaurant where all their old friends are
having dinner and happily receive him with open arms when they see him. His daughter is there too,
and Seok-heon discovers this is Roo-mi's new business. At her request, he uses his powers
to help her serve the beer mugs as he notices she's chosen the name "Superpower Chicken".