

A teenage girl is captured by a giant mutated squid-like creature that appears from Seoul's Han River after toxic waste was dumped in it, prompting her family into a frantic search for her.
Direction
Bong balances slapstick with genuine terror
Practical Effects
the creature's floppy amphibious chaos is chef's kiss
Acting
Song Kang-ho's dumb-dad energy is heartbreaking

Director
Bong Joon Ho
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real Han River incident that inspired this: a US military mortician dumped 200 bottles of formaldehyde into the river in 2000. Bong read the article and thought 'monster movie.'
The monster was designed to look like a fish that 'hadn't finished evolving'—explaining its clumsy, almost pathetic movement that makes its violence more disturbing.