Netflix’s ‘84 Square Meters’: Between Horror and Real Life
Netflix’s 2025 psychological thriller 84 Square Meters dives into the haunting experience of inter-floor noise (the sound that travels between apartment floors). Set in a typical South Korean high-rise apartment, the film centers around Woo-sung, a young man who proudly buys his first home—an 84-square-meter (about 900 sq ft) unit—with everything he has. But his dream quickly shatters when strange and inexplicable noises from the upper floor begin to torment him.
What starts as a nuisance becomes a spiral into paranoia, mystery, and dread. The isolation of modern apartment life, paired with the lack of any physical explanation for the sounds, creates a slowly suffocating tension. Director Kim Joon-ho uses the echo of footsteps, thuds, and whispers to build a localized psychological horror that feels uncomfortably real.
Housing Crisis, Close Quarters, and Neighborly Tensions
In South Korea, apartments are the most common form of housing. With dense city living comes paper-thin walls and overheard footsteps. Inter-floor noise has become one of the most common causes of disputes between neighbors, sometimes ending in physical violence or lawsuits. 84 Square Meters reflects this social reality, not as a mere backdrop, but as the very backbone of the story’s emotion and terror.
Woo-sung is emblematic of Korea’s “yeonggeuljok”—a term describing young people who have scraped together every penny (even going deep into debt) to afford their own home. This film captures the crushing pressure of being a homeowner and the bitter irony when the source of your pride—your new apartment—starts to feel like a prison. By emphasizing claustrophobic space and an invisible enemy, the film merges social realism with psychological horror.
This delivers a similar unease found in classic films like Japan’s Ringu, where domestic spaces become sites of supernatural tension. 84 Square Meters offers a non-supernatural, yet no less terrifying exploration of our modern urban condition.
What Works—and What Doesn’t
Pros: Art Reflecting Society
The film resonates with viewers because it isn’t just fiction—it’s painfully close to home. Whether you’ve lived in an apartment building in Seoul or New York, unwanted noise from upstairs can be maddening. By blowing that frustration into a full-blown psychological thriller, the movie invites viewers to both relate and reflect.
Actor Kang Ha-neul gives a riveting performance, portraying a man teetering on the edge between sanity and complete meltdown. Many urban dwellers will see themselves in his quiet suffering. In fact, by showing how something as minor as a creaking floorboard can fray nerves to the breaking point, the film sheds light on just how emotionally oppressive urban life can be.
Younger viewers especially find the film relatable. With housing prices skyrocketing in cities worldwide, owning even a modest apartment has become a heavy burden for many. For the debt-strapped “generation mortgage,” 84 Square Meters doesn’t feel like fiction—it’s almost too real.
Cons: Overblown Fear, Muddled Message
That said, there's a risk in taking a real societal issue—like inter-floor noise—and wrapping it in horror tropes. Critics argue that by exaggerating the noise to eerie extremes, the film may fuel paranoia between neighbors instead of encouraging understanding or reform.
Some also note that while the film poses important questions, it doesn’t offer much in the way of solutions. There's no real discussion about soundproofing, urban planning, or neighbor mediation. The story is immersive, yes—but it may leave viewers with hopelessness rather than a drive for change.
Likewise, by presenting the neighbor as something unknowable and malevolent, the film risks reinforcing a culture of suspicion. In a time when community bonds are already fraying, that might not be the message we need.
Should Horror Tackle Real Problems?
84 Square Meters invites a bigger question: should horror films take on real social issues—or does that trivialize them? Supporters argue that films like this increase awareness and empathy. Instead of only portraying murderers or ghosts, horror can focus on psychological stresses rooted in real urban life.
But skeptics say that horror’s obligation is to thrill, not to diligently offer solutions. If a film dramatizes a common issue just for entertainment without acknowledging its nuances, it might distort more than enlighten.
Still, maybe the strongest films do both. And regardless of where you land, 84 Square Meters has undeniably stirred conversation—from Reddit threads to coffee shop talk. People are not just asking what happens to Woo-sung. They’re asking why their own walls are so thin.
Final Thoughts
84 Square Meters is not your typical haunted house movie. Instead, it’s a terrifying mirror of high-rise living and its psychological toll. For some, it might spark empathy. For others, fresh anxiety. Either way, it proves that you don’t need ghosts to make a place unlivable—just footsteps at midnight.
It’s a slice of real life delivered with stunning emotional weight. If you live in an apartment with noisy neighbors—or if you've ever wondered what secrets lie above your ceiling—this one’s going to hit close to home.
