Loner (film)

Loner (Korean: 외톨이; RR: Oetori), also released under the titles *Orphaned* or *Hikikomori*, is a 2008 South Korean horror film and the feature directorial debut of Park Jae-shik. Park co-wrote the screenplay with Kim Min-jun, Jung Bum-shik, and Jun Im. The cast includes Go Eun-ah, Jeong Yoo-seok, and Chae Min-seo. The story centers on the concept of hikikomori, a Japanese term for people who completely isolate themselves from society.

The plot follows 17-year-old high school student Jeong Soo-na, who lives with her uncle Se-jin and grandmother in a large mansion. After her bullied best friend, Lee Han-jeong, is driven to suicide by a cruel public prank, Soo-na develops agoraphobia. When the bully comes to apologize, she finds Han-jeong's corpse covered in blood and vermin, and later kills herself from guilt. Soo-na's withdrawal worsens, straining her family. Matters escalate when Se-jin's former lover, Han Song-i, visits and is attacked by Soo-na's grandmother. During dinner, Soo-na, in a trance, reveals to Se-jin's fiancée Choi Yoon-mi that Se-jin is actually her father and Song-i her mother, the result of a teacher-student romance that ended when Se-jin abandoned her. Song-i later married an abusive man. Yoon-mi becomes furious when Se-jin avoids her questions.

Soo-na's condition deteriorates as vermin appear on her body. She knocks out the housemaid and traps her in a barrel with the family dog's corpse. When her grandmother tries to reach her room via a ladder, Soo-na kicks it, breaking the grandmother's back. That night, a figure forces Soo-na to kill her grandmother. Song-i is found dead on railway tracks. Se-jin tells Soo-na through her door that he left Song-i because she was already married when he returned from the army. Later, Soo-na sees her mother's spirit caressing Se-jin. Yoon-mi learns that Se-jin and Song-i had a second daughter, Kim Mi-jeong, who lived with her mother. She rushes to the mansion, where Se-jin, about to commit suicide, sees what he thinks is Soo-na. He is knocked out and wakes to find Yoon-mi motionless in Soo-na's bed. He sees Soo-na about to jump, but realizes it is actually Mi-jeong, who jumps and dies from impalement.

Soo-na is sent to a mental facility, where she confesses that she allowed Mi-jeong to plot against their father and grandmother.