It was part of the explosion in South Korean cinema following the liberalization of censorship in the aftermath of the end of the country's military dictatorship.

The film makes a social commentary on authoritarianism and conformity in the harsh South Korean education system.

Moments later, she is strangled with a noose by an unknown figure, her body discovered by three new senior students: the talented, superstitious artist Lim Ji-oh; the timid outsider, Yoon Jae-yi; and the sullen, unpopular Kim Jung-sook.

Seeing Ji-oh dispirited, Jae-yi, a former artist, agrees to teach her painting in the storage room, which is rumored to be haunted.

A flashback shows how Jin-ju died in the storeroom while trying to save the statue; as it fell, she tripped, and everything came crashing down, including the sculpting knives, which ultimately killed her.

Jin-ju says that all she wanted was to live a normal high school life and have someone who could love her fearlessly as Eun-young couldn't.

[9] In 2020, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian ranked Whispering Corridors number 10 in a list of classics of modern South Korean cinema.