Taking its inspiration from the reality television survival shows that continue to be popular across the world, “A Million” notches things up by putting its characters in real danger as they compete for the titular sum – though there seems to be some number confusion, as the DVD box art refers to 1,000,000,000. The film was written and directed by Jo Min Ho, previously responsible for the underrated hardboiled thriller “Les Formidables”, and sees him mining the premise not only for tension and excitement, but to explore in surprising depth some of the darker aspects of human nature. With Park Hee Son (“The Scam”) as the director of the show, the film’s contestants are made up of a number of famous faces, including Park Hae Il (“Paradise Murdered”), Shin Min Ah (“Naked Kitchen”), Lee Min Ki (“Haeundae”), Jung Yoo Mi (“Family Ties”), Lee Cheon Hee (“Romance of Their Own”), and Ko Eun Ah (“Loner”).

The film wastes little time in getting things underway, as a seemingly disparate bunch of people, including a stock broker, ex-navy man, law student, camera nut and other recognisable broad strokes, receive notification that they have won a place on a reality television show set in the Australian outback. Without bothering to find out too much about the program, they jump on a plane, and soon find themselves in real danger, as the director escalates things from the usual inane games to genuine survival challenges. With the promise of the all-important prize driving them onwards, the contestants vie against each other as it becomes increasingly obvious that they have been lured to the isolated location for a specific and sinister purpose.

source http://www.beyondhollywood.com