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Korea · 2022
2h 20m
Director Han Jae-rim
Starring Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, Jeon Do-yeon, Kim Nam-gil
Genre Action, Drama
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While investigating a terror threat online, Korean authorities discover that a suspect has recently boarded a flight bound for the United States. When a healthy passenger on the same flight suddenly dies a gruesome and mysterious death, panic erupts both in-flight and on the ground. With decreasing fuel and international refusals to offer aid, the captain and crew take emergency measures to try and save their passengers.
This is still star-driven, big-screen goofiness writ large, something to be consumed with popcorn and a crowd, and that fact its hitting U.S. screens during the summer dog days couldn’t be more welcome. You just might want to wear two masks in the theater.
Los Angeles Times by Michael Ordona
The performances are uniformly solid, especially by the two leads, and the generally low-key cinematic style keeps us in the pocket of the story.
Believe it or not, Emergency Declaration was conceived before the pandemic, but it’s just about the most thrilling way a film can capitalize on our fears — of the virus, of flying, of governments making a problem worse — without directly exploiting the international nightmare we’ve all been living lately.
The New York Times by Robert Daniels
Emergency Declaration, a piercing thriller from the South Korean writer-director Han Jae-rim, manages to deliver excitement and melodrama out of a ludicrous story line.
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