Jay Song’s “4PM” affirms my belief that South Korean filmmakers can make films with any setting or scope, no matter how big or small. Jay’s film, written by Kim Hae-gon, is a good example. It takes place mainly in between two isolated houses in a small town and revolves around two middle-aged couples who become neighbors by happenstance. Somehow, Kim and Jay build these four characters with depth and pathos and create a largely convincing revenge thriller arc for everyone. While doing so, it also becomes a contemplation on the matters of life and death. If you’re wondering about the fate of Jeong-in and Yook-nam, find the ending explained here.
Spoilers Ahead
4PM (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
“4PM” is a Korean-language mystery thriller about a married couple who move to an idyllic house only to get their life disrupted by a neighbor who doesn’t understand the importance of social boundaries.
What happens in the 4PM movie?
The movie revolves around Jeong-in (Oh Dal-su), a well-respected professor, who decides to step down from his position and move into a new home with his wife, Hyeon-sook (Jang Young-Nam). He thinks that is a good way to spend the next part of his life and Hyeon-sook seems on board with it. While on their drive there, they discuss how their new house will keep them away from the problems of pollution and traffic they often face in the city. They also discuss how Jeong-in decided to buy this house on a whim.
Along the way, Jeong-in accidentally crashes into another car. Although it is a minor accident, he walks over to the other car to apologize. The driver tells him to leave and forget that it even happened. Jeong-in realizes that the man is probably drunk-driving. Still, he decides to let bygones be bygones and heads toward their house. He seems more interested in having a peaceful future than being stuck in his past.
How do Jeong-in and Hyeon-sook meet their neighbor?
After a long drive, Jeong-in and Hyeon-sook reach their new home on the outskirts. It is spacious, wooden, and refreshing, unlike what they were used to in the city. So, they are delighted to step into this new world. After getting settled, they notice the next house. That’s the only house around theirs. The couple knows that it belongs to a doctor, but finds it strange that he hasn’t turned on any lights at night. They assume that the doctor may not have returned home. Regardless, they decide to close the curtains so as not to disturb the neighbors with their lights.
The next day, the couple decides to break the ice. However, they do not want to invade the doctor’s space or privacy. So, Jeong-in decides to write a note and slide it under the doctor’s door. Hyeon-sook asks him to still ring the bell. That way, they can speak with the doctor in case he is home. They realize that the bell doesn’t even ring. So, they knock on the door, but no one opens the door. Jeong-in leaves his note and returns home. He and Hyeon-sook go through their daily meditative rituals. Suddenly, at 4 PM, the doctor (Kim Hong-pa) shows up at the doorstep.
What happens between the couple and the next-door doctor?
The doctor remains creepily passive throughout their interactions. He enters the house and speaks only when the professor asks him something. Even then, he gives a short answer. Hyeon-sook offers him a cup of tea, hoping that it will relax him and make him speak candidly, but that doesn’t work either. He just sits on the couch, staring aimlessly, and leaves sharp at 6 PM. While it may not have meant anything to him, those two hours felt like a lifetime to the couple. They worry that they did something wrong and that they could have been more courteous.
The next day, the doctor shows up at their doorstep again and doesn’t answer why he is there. The professor invites him in just to be polite. He tries to make the doctor speak but ends up feeling guilty for his attempts. At 6 PM, the doctor stands up, almost like a robot expected to do certain things at a certain time. He walks toward the door. The professor manages to learn his name: Yook-nam. The next day, the couple heads out to the town, buys some houseplants, and returns home. Even then, the doctor shows up exactly at 4 PM and refuses to explain why.
The couple is too afraid to throw Yook-nam out or tell him to stop coming. So, they decide to go out at 3 PM and not return until it’s a little late. Sadly, they get caught in the rain. Still, Hyeon-sook insists they stick to their plan. They return late and realize that the doctor sat outside their house through the rain. The next day, he shows up again and guilts them into making him wait outside as if they owe something to him. He does not understand any social boundaries and expects Heyon-sook to make him a cup of tea even when she says she is unwell.
4PM (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
How do the professor and his wife get rid of their neighbor?
Yook-nam always shows up at 4 PM at the professor’s house and becomes a nuisance for him and his wife. They try to break the pattern by staying out, but it doesn’t work. So, they try another strategy. Hyeon-sook invites the doctor for a 7 PM dinner with his wife. She decides to ward him off by showing how different she and the professor are as a couple. So, the doctor doesn’t show up at 4 but at 7 o’clock with his wife. Neither speaks, but it seems like they have a strained relationship.
The doctor doesn’t respect his wife and stops Hyeon-sook from offering her more food or wine. Hyeon-sook feels bad for the poor woman and decides to stop the doctor. It infuriates the doctor. After he leaves, the professor receives a call from So-Jung, a student whom they treat like their daughter. She reveals that she is visiting them the very next day. So, the professor stands outside to stop the doctor in case he shows up as usual. However, that doesn’t work. The doctor knocks on the door anyhow and invites himself in.
As always, the doctor doesn’t utter a single word, but neither the professor nor his wife throws him out. So, So-Jung feels insulted and leaves immediately. It becomes the last straw for Hyeon-sook, who insists that Jeong-in do something about it. The next day, when the doctor shows up, Jeong-in throws him out and beats him violently. The doctor’s wife sees it happen from a distance. Regardless of what she feels, Jeong-in’s outburst puts a stop to the doctor’s annoying ritual, at least for the time being.
Why does the doctor always show up at 4 PM?
Toward the end of the movie, the professor feels relieved that they won’t have to deal with the doctor anymore. He believes the doctor is showing up at their house because he is lonely. After all, the doctor is a middle-aged man with no kids and a visibly unwell wife that he needs to take care of. He also seems like a traditional patriarch who feels like the world should behave how he expects it to behave. So, maybe he is too tired of dealing with it and a routine out of his misery makes him find some peace. Perhaps that is why he doesn’t like to interact at all.
It all makes sense, considering what happens after the professor beats him up. The doctor locks himself in his garage and tries to take his own life. The professor breaks open a window and brings him outside. For a few moments, he entertains the thought of letting the doctor die, but eventually calls the authorities to save his life. Later on, he drives the doctor back home. Even then, the doctor doesn’t feel a shred of remorse. Instead, he is angry that the professor did not respect his wishes, whether about life or death. So, he mentions a plan to kill the professor and his wife. He also makes the professor lose balance over his car.
What happens to the professor in the end?
After the car crash, the doctor laughs at the professor and mocks his philosophy about life and death. The professor realizes that the doctor will make them miserable for letting him survive. So, at night, he shows up at the doctor’s house and smothers him to death. As he walks out, the doctor’s wife sees him from the house, unbeknownst to him. Later, she arrives at his house, and while he is busy reading a book, she presumably smothers him to death. This wicked ending shows the professor reaching the same fate as the doctor.
It ties in with a voice-over that appears at the film’s beginning. The professor talks about blissful self-ignorance. Although a part of the human society, he is capable of evil as much as any other human. All it needs is a little push to lead him to this self-awareness. Otherwise, he lives in ignorance of his own capabilities.
