'The People Upstairs' Crosses 500K Admissions, Defies R-Rating Headwinds

Ha Jung-woo’s fourth film as a director, "The People Upstairs," has held the top spot among Korean releases for three straight weeks and has now surpassed 500,000 admissions.

According to the Korean Film Council’s box office tracker, the film drew 12,296 moviegoers nationwide on Nov. 20 to rank No. 4 for the day, pushing its cumulative total to 504,093 admissions.

The performance stands out amid the dominance of Hollywood heavyweights "Zootopia 2" and "Avatar: Fire and Ash," making it the lone Korean title holding its own. It’s an especially notable milestone for an R-rated local release.

"The People Upstairs" follows two couples ― an upstairs pair (Ha Jung-woo and Lee Hanee) and the downstairs neighbors (Kong Hyo-jin and Kim Dong-wook) ― who sit down for a tense dinner after a string of late-night, very adult noise complaints, only for the evening to spiral in unexpected ways.

Audiences are responding to Ha’s keen observational touch and crackling dialogue, while the quartet’s lived-in rhythms and chemistry are fueling strong word of mouth. 

(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)