Connect Movie May 2026

Here’s a long, detailed review for the 2022 Korean sci-fi thriller Connect (also known as Connect: The Secret of the Cell or simply Connect ), directed by Takashi Miike. Rating: ★★★½ (3.5/5)

There’s no director quite like Takashi Miike ( Audition, Ichi the Killer, 13 Assassins ). He can turn a simple premise into a surreal, violent fever dream. So when the legendary Japanese filmmaker takes on a Korean-produced sci-fi thriller for Disney+, expectations are unusual. Connect doesn’t disappoint in its weirdness, but it does stumble in its ambition. The result is a series that is frustratingly uneven, yet utterly unforgettable. The story follows Ha Dong-soo (Jung Hae-in), a young man who is kidnapped by a sinister organ-harvesting ring. After having his eye removed, he wakes up in a bathtub full of ice, only to discover a horrifying side effect: he can now see through the eye that was taken from him. That eye has been transplanted into a brutal serial killer named Oh Jin-seok (Go Kyung-pyo), who calls himself a “new human” and paints grotesque artworks with his victims’ blood. connect movie

But the true highlight is Go Kyung-pyo as Oh Jin-seok, the killer. Known for his lovable, goofy roles in K-dramas ( Reply 1988 , Chicago Typewriter ), Go delivers a jaw-dropping transformation. He plays Jin-seok as a smiling, soft-spoken psychopath who genuinely believes he’s an artist. He’s not a hulking brute; he’s a charming, fragile-looking man who will calmly discuss the color of your blood before painting with it. It’s a career-defining villain turn. Connect is only six episodes, but it feels both too short and too long. The middle episodes (3-4) drag significantly, focusing on repetitive cat-and-mouse chases and underwhelming subplots. The hacker character, despite the actress’s best efforts, is underwritten—her motivations are vague, and she often acts illogically to move the plot forward. Here’s a long, detailed review for the 2022

More frustratingly, the rules of the “connect” ability are never properly defined. Sometimes Dong-soo sees everything Jin-seok sees in real-time. Other times, he gets random, delayed flashes. The series introduces a supernatural “immortality” element (Dong-soo can regenerate limbs) but then forgets about it for entire episodes. For a show built on a clever gimmick, the inconsistency is maddening. So when the legendary Japanese filmmaker takes on

Connect is a bloody, beautiful, broken mirror. Look into it—but be prepared for what stares back.