The Chaser
Directed by Na Hong-jin
- crime
- thriller
- action
The story
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.
What it’s like
Grimy, rain-soaked Seoul at night, shot with handheld urgency: sickly sodium-yellow streetlight, wet asphalt reflecting neon, cramped apartments lit by a single bare bulb or the cold blue of a phone screen. Director Na Hong-jin keeps the camera close and restless, lingering on sweat, bruises and mud, with long chase sequences that run unbroken through alleys and over rooftops. The score is sparse and percussive, with long stretches of ambient street noise and near silence that make each sudden blow land hard. The vibe is bleak, feverish and relentlessly tense, a sense of decay that never lifts. Violence is frequent and brutal, with graphic beatings, blood, and disturbing scenes involving the killer's victims, and the dread of a sadistic predator is constant. It is not gentle, and it offers little relief between sequences. It suits viewers who want a hard-edged, gritty thriller that rewards close attention and tolerates unflinching cruelty, rather than comfort or escapism.
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