Joong-ho is a dirty detective turned pimp, who's in financial trouble as several of his girls have recently disappeared without clearing their debts. While trying to track them down, he finds a clue that the vanished girls were all called up by the same client, whom one of his girls is meeting with right now.
Directed by Na Hong-jin
prostitute
kidnapping
psychopath
pimp
investigation
gore
rope
based on true story
flu
serial killer
psychological thriller
cell phone
dog
tied up
meat hook
chisel
seoul, south korea
tense
awestruck
Rank
#18 in 2008·#1171 overall
Trailer
IMDB
N/A
Letterboxd
4.0 / 5
Where to Watch
Cast
Kim Yun-seok
Eom Jung-ho
Ha Jung-woo
Ji Young-min
Seo Young-hee
Kim Mi-jin
Kim You-jung
Eun-ji
Jung In-gi
Detective Lee
Choi Jung-woo
Chief of Police
Min Kyung-jin
Captain
Park Hyo-ju
Detective Oh
Koo Bon-woong
Meathead
Oh Yeon-ah
Seong-hee
Yoo Ji-yeon
Hee-jung
Kim Sun-young
Ji-yeong
Crew
Na Hong-jin
Director
Na Hong-jin
Screenplay
Kim Sun-min
Editor
Miky Lee
Executive Producer
Yoo Sang-seob
Fight Choreographer
Hong Won-chan
Adaptation
Popular Reviews
335 reviews
Nora Goodale
6.7★ · 05/18/25
The movie equivalent of a cat with nine lives, the plot is being constantly resuscitated. Grueling and grotesque watch but the craft was good. I was holding on to the staggering number of sub plots for dear life, but I liked that they were all there.
The movie equivalent of a cat with nine lives, the plot is being constantly resuscitated. Grueling and grotesque watch but the craft was good. I was holding on to the staggering number of sub plots for dear life, but I liked that they were all there.
shit was dark. shit had me on edge for 2 hours straight. shit was brutal. i didn’t feel like it had much of a point but its very south korean and well done.
shit was dark. shit had me on edge for 2 hours straight. shit was brutal. i didn’t feel like it had much of a point but its very south korean and well done.
7
2
Sarish DeotalePRO
7.9★ · 05/18/25
this was a hard watch. very uncomfortable at moments, but it was really engaging throughout. south korea has their thrillers down
spoilers:
ultimately my biggest gripes are the killer’s motive isn’t revealed well or the one we’re given is kind of poor for the character and a bunch of open ended questions about the killer and his past. we get the details, but they’re a bit half baked (or at least @liamnolan and @goods and I couldn’t decipher them)
this was a hard watch. very uncomfortable at moments, but it was really engaging throughout. south korea has their thrillers down
spoilers:
ultimately my biggest gripes are the killer’s motive isn’t revealed well or the one we’re given is kind of poor for the character and a bunch of open ended questions about the killer and his past. we get the details, but they’re a bit half baked (or at least @liamnolan and @goods and I couldn’t decipher them)
