Woodz & Justin H. Min in Thriller Movie ‘Slide Strum Mute’

Woodz and Justin H. Min breathe in sync for the primary time within the thriller quick movie “Slide Strum Mute,” a 59‑minute cinematic experiment set to hit Korean theaters on February 26 and framed fantastically of their new Style Korea characteristic.

A brand new more or less duet: movie, no longer a characteristic

“Slide Strum Mute” marks Woodz’ first reputable appearing position, however it’s additionally a brand new bankruptcy in how he tells tales past the usual 3‑minute song video. Impressed through his personal autobiographical essay, the movie follows Woo Jin, a tender musician who assists in keeping failing auditions till a stranger’s damaged guitar drags him right into a cursed timeline fueled through want. That stranger is Nam Gi, performed through Justin H. Min, whose presence turns a easy song narrative right into a gradual‑burn mystery.

Style Korea’s characteristic positions the movie as an extension of Woodz’ inside global fairly than a promotional additional, pairing cinematic stills with candid reflections on concern, ambition, and inventive possibility. The result’s a hybrid undertaking that sits between album prologue, occult quick, and visible essay.

“I saved asking, ‘Does a song video in point of fact need to be 3 mins, locked to at least one track?’ – Woodz”

“Slide Strum Mute”: when a guitar rewrites time

On the middle of the movie is Woo Jin, a suffering musician whose newest failed audition leaves him exhausted, susceptible, and open to the rest that would possibly alternate his destiny. One night time, Nam Gi seems, leaves in the back of a guitar so broken its authentic shape is unrecognizable, and disappears, asking Woo Jin to fix it. When Woo Jin strums the strings, time fractures; he’s thrown right into a cursed timeline the place each and every selection seems like a industry between skill, good fortune, and his personal lifestyles.

The film is a 59‑minute thriller quick movie, designed to stretch past the standard “visualizer” or idea movie that K‑pop lovers are used to seeing. Director Park Se Younger, recognized for the horror movie “The 5th Thoracic Vertebra,” leans into eerie pacing, surreal imagery, and occult stress fairly than flashy efficiency cuts. For Woodz, this isn’t only a cameo in his personal undertaking; it’s a complete‑on appearing debut constructed at the pains and obsessions he’s already written about in his song.

“It’s a cursed guitar tale, however in point of fact it’s about what you’re keen to sacrifice on your artwork.”

Woodz: from “Drowning” to visible possibility‑taker

Woodz has spent the previous few years development a name as certainly one of K‑pop’s maximum flexible soloists, similarly at house in darkish R&B, alt‑rock, and complex, self‑produced albums. After his observe “Drowning” discovered renewed chart lifestyles and overdue viral momentum, expectancies round his subsequent song technology handiest intensified. Reasonably than retreat right into a protected components, he doubled down on experimentation, asking whether or not song visuals might be larger, stranger, and extra narrative‑pushed than a normal MV.

In Style Korea, Woodz admits he has lengthy puzzled if there was once “the rest visually new but even so song,” wondering whether or not a song video should all the time be compressed into 3 mins of completely synced storytelling. Keen on occult and horror works, he was once interested in the style’s recent visible language and puzzled what would occur if he grafted that onto his personal sound. “Slide Strum Mute” turns into his solution: a movie that makes use of concern, stress, and supernatural metaphor to discuss ambition, failure, and the temptation to industry the whole thing for genius.

“If I borrow occult language and drop it into my song global, the synergy will get larger.” – Picketz

Justin H. Min: a contented artist in cursed time

For Justin H. Min, “Slide Strum Mute” extends an already wealthy dating with Korean cinema and audiences. He broke via in Korea with “After Yang,” then returned to the Busan World Movie Competition with Kim Jin‑yoo’s movie “Flowing Adventure,” ceaselessly development connections to Korean initiatives and creators. In Style Korea, he describes himself as a “glad artist” exploring other mediums—from appearing to images—and refusing to be boxed into one lane.​

As Nam Gi, Min is the movie’s wild card: the mysterious buyer who walks into Woo Jin’s guitar restore store “Satisfied Guitar,” drops off a shattered device, and quietly binds Woo Jin to the cursed timeline. His efficiency can’t lean on long persona exposition as a result of the fast movie layout, so he threads character into delicate gestures and quiet risk as a substitute. Off‑display screen, Min and Woodz proportion a comfy rapport; Min even shot Woodz’ pictures right through the Style editorial, blurring the road between topic and collaborator.

“I like the enjoyment of attempting new mediums. This movie was once otherwise to check how some distance artwork can stretch.” – Justin H. Min

Retaining their breath in combination: friendship and long term

What makes the Woodz x Justin H. Min pairing particular is how it frames collaboration as lengthy‑time period, no longer a one‑off stunt. Sooner than casting information was reputable, Min had already been quietly the usage of Woodz’ songs as background song in his social posts, hinting at a rising admiration for his sound. The fast movie, and the Style Korea characteristic that spotlights either one of them, really feel like the primary visual bankruptcy of that dating fairly than the closing.

As they “grasp their breath” in combination for the February 26 premiere, each artists are checking out the boundaries of their very own ingenious identities—Woodz through stepping absolutely into an actor’s frame, Min through deepening his ties to Korean tales and song‑pushed initiatives. For K‑pop lovers, “Slide Strum Mute” is a unprecedented probability to observe a cherished soloist possibility the whole thing in a brand new medium whilst being anchored through an actor who understands how one can make style storytelling emotionally grounded. It’s additionally a sign: as song, movie, and model proceed to collide, collaborations like this—amplified through platforms like Style Korea—are going to form how the following technology of K‑pop narratives appear and feel.

“Tune, movie, and model aren’t separate lanes anymore—they’re one lengthy level.”

Key main points at a look

The Manufacturing Crew