Remakes have taken up quite some space in the film ecosystem, much to the ire of viewers who yearn for more original stories to be shared. Nevertheless, that desire has yet to halt the countless remakes announced this year, and those coming in the near future. With varying degrees of success and a built-in consumer base, it is easily understood as to why major studios feel inclined to revive decades-old stories and reintroduce them to a new audience.
However, when news of remakes of films that premiered in the 2010s and have barely been out a decade arises, a little skepticism can be forgiven. That said, both American and international audiences have benefited from the adaptation of a single story, with the respective directors having the chance to supplement the story at hand with cultural context and a difference in perspective.
Remakes, when handled with the utmost respect, can accentuate the immortality of a given tale. Films like A Star Is Born are one of many examples of a movie where fans have considered the remakes to be much better than the original. These films come from across the world and reinterpreted familiar stories, and in turn, brought a new light to the themes explored.
7 Last Shift (2014)
Remade as Malum (2024)
Last Shift is a 2014 American horror film that stars Juliana Harkavy as Officer Jessica Loren, whose first assignment is to work the late shift. Given the passing of her father, a police officer who lost his life during a late shift, her mother is understandably worried. However, neither of them expects the events that transpire that night.
Throughout the film, Loren attempts to survive the night while trying to make sense of the forces behind the paranormal activity that threatens to unravel her. The film earned strongly positive reviews, with journalists like Dread Central’s Staci Layne Wilson praising its pacing as well as Harkavy’s performance. Last Shift may offer an easily digestible premise, but the route it takes to reach the chilling destination is nothing short of fulfilling.
A decade after the film’s initial release, a remake with the same creatives involved, Malum, arrived on screens. Much like its predecessor, the film stunned audiences, with its ensemble cast taking the reins and captivating them with their magnetism. Alongside a reliably entertaining plot, fans of the former can happily sink their teeth into Malum without worrying about a decline in quality.
6 The Intouchables (2011)
Remade as The Upside (2017)
The Intouchables, based on a true story, is a French film that shines a warm light on the friendship between Phillipe (François Cluzet), a billionaire with disabilities, and Driss (Omar Sy), a man who finds himself employed as Phillipe’s caretaker. The beloved buddy-comedy sees two men who come from different lives enjoying their time learning more about one another, which quickly informs their respective epiphanies about life. Making the most of their unlikely connection, Driss and Phillipe offer audiences just enough genuine camaraderie to smooth out the worrisome aspects of the film.
While French critics generally celebrated the film as an affectionate display of male friendship and a gaze into two protagonists who carry the knowledge of their marginalization with them, British critics were much more divided about the film. Publications like The Independent expressed their confusion about the popularity of The Intouchables, expressing a specific concern with the film’s handling of race, likening the depiction of Driss and Phillipe’s friendship to the film Driving Miss Daisy.
Despite the contentious discussion, the film would receive an array of accolades and an American remake starring Bryan Cranston and Kevin Heart. The Upside, which arrived in 2017, sees a similar set-up between Dell (Hart) and Phillip (Cranston). Even more derided than the original, critics found the film “preachy and manipulative.” Moreover, many believe that the film failed to capture the natural comedic timing and chemistry between Cranston and Hart.
5 The Guilty (2018)
Remade as The Guilty (2021)
The Guilty was initially released in 2018 under Danish production companies Nordisk Film Spring and New Danish Screen. Starring Jakob Cedergren, Jessica Dinnage, and Johan Olsen, the tense crime thriller follows Asper Holm (Cedergren), a Copenhagen police officer, who feels on the edge moments before a hearing surrounding the murder of a 19-year-old teen. He receives a call from a stranger named Østergård, and upon realizing that nothing is what it seems, Holm decides to take matters into his own hands.
After the initial release, the Danish film earned rave reviews, being billed as a “high concept thriller” by Rotten Tomatoes. The film also dominated the award season, taking home multiple Robert Awards, two Bodil Awards, and ranking within the top five of the Foreign Language Films of 2018, to name a few.
The film was famously remade in 2021, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Riley Keough, and Ethan Hawke. Set in Los Angeles, the remake focuses on a troubled officer named Joe Baylor. Receiving a call from a woman named Emily Lighton (Keough), he soon learns of the precarious situation Lighton is in and tirelessly works to assist her.
Despite generally favorable reviews, the consensus among film fans and critics is that the American remake pales in comparison to the source material, with said critics citing pacing issues as well as the film’s understated messages about the human conscience during a state of emergency.
4 Blind (2011)
Remade as The Witness (2015)
The Witness sees Chinese actress Yang Mi starring alongside former EXO-member Luhan in a tantalizing drama that highlights the life of a rookie cop whose life changes during one fateful night. Lu Xiaoxing (Yang Mi) leaves her responsibilities to pick up her brother, an aspiring singer, from a night of rebellion. However, on her way back home, the two get into a fatal accident which claims her brother’s life and leaves her blind. The film largely chronicles Lu Xiaoxing’s grief-heavy journey towards recovery.
A Decent Reimagination Of Blind, With Much To Consider
A remake of the 2011 South Korean thrillerBlind, the Yang Mi-led film handled themes such as loss, corruption, and misogyny with just enough consideration to make a decent film. Earning mixed reviews, many have come to the consensus that both Yang Mi and Luchan offered compelling portrayals. However, beyond its performances, the storytelling and its respective execution left audiences yearning for more context behind the atrocities found in the film.
Conversely, Blind received slightly better reviews, with its lead actress Kim Ha-neul winning “Best Actress” at the 48th Grand Bell Awards and the 32nd Blue Dragon Film Awards. Nevertheless, reviews of the source material were mixed as well, with Derek Elley of Film Business Asia proclaiming that the film does not live up to its true potential.
3 Miracle in Cell No. 7 (2013)
Remade 4 Times in 2017, 2019, and 2022
Miracle In Cell No. 7 is a South Korean drama that focuses on a tender relationship between Ye-sung (Park Shin-ye), a lawyer, and her late father, Lee Yong-gu (Ryu Seung-ryong), who was incarcerated. A trip down memory lane, audiences get to see firsthand the events that led to her father’s arrest as well as the life of a young Ye-sung (Kal So-won).
The film is widely regarded as a beautiful gaze into the past, highlighting themes such as justice, the importance of memory, and grief. After its initial release, the film received stellar reviews and became one of the most successful Korean films in its respective year due to an effective word-of-mouth campaign.
The success of the film inspired several remakes, many carrying the same name. The first adaptation was an Indian production entitled “Pushpaka Vimana,” released in 2017. The Hindi-language film includes Ramesh Aravind, Rachita Ram, and Baby Yuvina Parthavi among the lead cast and follows a similar circumstance that has devastated a South Asian family. Similarly, the film was warmly received upon release. While critics made note of the dialogue-heavy script, the story as a whole was embraced as a heartfelt father-daughter connection explored.
It wasn’t long for another remake to appear, this time in the Philippines in 2019. Starring Aga Muhlach, Bela Padilla, and Xia Vigor. The Filipino version doesn’t stray far from the source material, detailing a similar experience between a father who was wrongly imprisoned and a daughter who attempts to rectify the harm done by the justice system while existing within it. Much like its previous iterations, the Filipino remake was a resounding success in its respective country, reportedly selling out in the majority of the theaters in the country.
In the same year, Turkish filmmakers produced and released their own rendition of Miracle in Cell No. 7. Boasting a cast including Aras Bulut İynemli, Nisa Aksongur, and Deniz Baysal, the film begins with a reflection of the 2004 legislation that outlawed capital punishment in Turkey. Ova (Hayal Köseoğlu) invites audiences into her early childhood, where her strong relationship with her father is explored in leading up to a fatal accident and a subsequent, false imprisonment. The Turkish production both benefited from the appealing plot and a decision to put the film on Netflix, which saw an additional, international audience coalesce around the release.
The latest remake of Miracle In Cell No. 7was released by Indonesian filmmakers in 2022. Starring Vino G. Bastian, Graciella Abigail, and Indro, the film focuses on Dodo Rozak (Bastian), a then 20-year-old who sells balloons, and his daughter Ika Karita (Abigail). The day of their separation was marked by a tragedy that would see the former falsely accused of a set of heinous crimes. Over the course of the decades, audiences witness the makeshift community that forms around the father-daughter pair, informing the latter of her contemporary sense of justice as she looks back on her life.
The continued success of the aforementioned remakes as well as the announcements of Spanish and American remakes that are on their way can honestly be credited to the sentimental nature of the story. With the poignant presentation of themes surrounding family loyalty, the building of a chosen family, and hope in the face of pervasive systems of oppression, viewers can easily empathize and identify with the characters in the film and their respective plight.
2 Retribution (2015)
Remade 3 Times in 2018, 2021, and 2023
Retribution (Spanish: El Desconocido) is a Spanish-language thriller that focuses on a banker named Carlos (Luis Tosar) and the misadventures he finds himself in during an initially ordinary day. When driving his children to school, Carlos gets an ominous phone call from a stranger (Javier Gutiérrez) who threatens to detonate their car with bombs placed under each seat if any of them refuse to cave into their demands. The film is an exhilarating look into greed and revenge, begging the audience to consider whether the predator/prey binary is as definite as it may seem.
Despite debuting to mixed reviews, the film would inspire three remakes from different countries. The first would appear in Germany under the name Don’t. Get. Out! (German: Steig. Nicht. Aus!). The film stars Wotan Wilke Möhring as Karl Brendt, a Berlin-based project developer. One morning, he prepares to take his family to their respective destinations, where he receives an equally menacing phone call from an unidentified number who threatens to detonate his car. Believing it to be a prank, Karl initially ignores the demands. But when a car beside him detonates, Karl realizes he must do everything in his power to bring his family back in one piece.
Hard Hit, another remake of the film, premiered in 2021. A Korean production centered around a bank manager living in Busan, the film begins with Seong-gyu (Jo Woo-jin), who experiences a similar, traumatic experience illustrated by the past two iterations. Much like the German iteration, Hard Hit received generally favorable reviews, becoming the fifth highest-grossing Korean films that year. Similar themes of family, class, and exploitation are explored, setting the foundation for a truly entertaining drama.
Retribution is the latest remake of the film, an American production starring controversial yet acclaimed actor Liam Neeson. An American financier based in Berlin, Matt (Neeson), takes his children to school when he gets dragged into a terrifying cycle that has fallen upon men before him. While the former three earned mixed to rave reviews, Retribution would receive overwhelmingly negative reviews. When juxtaposed with Neeson’s prior portrayals of a paternal figure, reviews felt that Retribution could have benefited from a balanced, show-and-tell approach that effectively illustrated Matt’s dedication to his family and the fear that drives his decision-making.
1 A Man Called Ove (2015)
Remade as A Man Called Otto (2022)
A Man Called Ove is a 2015 Swedish dramedy film starring Rolf Lassgård. Set in a seemingly normal Swedish town, the titular character learns to live after being deposed as the president of his condominium association. However, when Parvaneh, a new neighbor (Bahar Pars), moves in and accidentally wrecks his mailbox, the two find their lives changing in unprecedented ways, kicking off a series of reflective moments that all tie into a bittersweet adventure.
Fans of the film appreciate the balance in tone, with the comical and serious sequences of the film complementing one another instead of overpowering one another. The sentimental tearjerker has continued to be embraced as one of the best international feature films, so it does not come as a shock to find out that other filmmakers would attempt to recapture its magic.
A Spectacular Slice-of-Life Dramedy Revitalized In a Man Called Otto
A Man Called Otto, a 2022 remake of the aforementioned film, stars Tom Hanks as Otto, Ove’s American counterpart, known to his community as the wise pessimist. Much like the source material, Otto’s pessimism is put to the test when he meets Marisol (Mariana Treviño), a pregnant woman who is introduced as his new neighbor.
Similarly to A Man Called Ove, the film impressed fans with its dissection of human emotion and questions the possibility of redemption in a single lifetime, with Treviño stealing the spotlight. With their beautiful depiction of reality, both films stand as a testament to the innate need for connection, community, and grace.
