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For most of its two-hour running time, "Tell Me Something" is engaging as it gradually ratchets up the suspense, drawing the audience deeper into the mystery while raising the stakes. Unfortunately, it is in the last act where the film starts to fall apart. Like the lesser entries in the 'serial killer thriller' genre (such as "Along Came a Spider" and "The Watcher"), the overly-elaborate scheme of the killer ends up overwhelming the logical concerns of the narrative. While the film's climax is well-shot and executed with a great soundtrack (including the best use of "Red Right Hand" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in a film, which was also used in "The X-Files" and "Scream"), it ends up not making sense when viewed in the context of what led up to it. Even more distressing is the film's coda, which introduces another logic-defying plot twist courtesy of what is dubbed the 'Kodak moment' cliché of murder-mysteries.

Though some of the plot points hold up on subsequent viewings of the film, a number of them do not, requiring character motivations and circumstances to jump through hoops in order for the story to remain cohesive. In fact, audiences in Korea have been so mystified that a number of Internet discussion groups have sprung up just to unravel the film's convoluted narrative. I suspect that part of the reason for the confusion could be due to the omission of a few key scenes, which may have been left on the cutting-room floor. Two obvious logical gaps would be how Detective Oh is able to link a seemingly unrelated crime scene to the gruesome murders, and a significant 'change of heart' experienced by one of the characters, triggering the film's climax.

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