The Chaser

sooo bleak. every women in this movie is repeatedly failed by the men around them, the same men that exist to protect them (whether it's coworkers, bosses, or just neighbor acquaintances), from the most blatant ways possible to small slights that would be overlooked if it were any other movie. they're only safe when they don't put their trust in the men around them, and seonghee only makes it alive in this movie because she realized they'll always act in their better interests, even if it's at the cost of her own safety. at every chance the system gets to do something right, which is enforced by the men and for the men, it instead looks to protecting its own - even at the cost of letting a serial killer go. the men in this movie always weigh priorities in their favor, and they do not think for a second to reevaluate because the one facing the consequences is also the same one they expect to shoulder the burden. if only takes joongho so long to investigate the serial killer because he so easily digested the idea that the prostitutes are exploiting his "goodwill" and run off, rather than be victim to a horrible crime. and even then, he sees it as a slight on his own business; because at the end of the day, the women in this movie act as vehicles for their monetary or sexual interest. never watched a revenge movie that felt so hollow and depressing before. really rammed in home on how futile the revenge was because at no point it was for the women that died. it was for joongho's bruised ego that realized all too late his role in the horrors that transpired.