- Director: Jae-hoon Kim
- Writer: Jae-hoon Kim
- Stars: Dae-hwan Oh, Dong-yoon Jang, Jae-ho Jang
Review
Playing at the Fantasia International Film Festival, Devils is another example of why Korean cinema is so highly regarded.
Detective Choi Jae-hwan (Dae-hwan Oh) wants to bring serial killer Jin-hyeok (Dong-yoon Jang), to justice. During a fast paced and tense chase, Jae-hwan and his partner (who is also his brother-in-law) are separated and his partner is murdered. Fast forward two years and Jae-hwan is a man obsessed with revenge, focusing only on catching Jin-hyeok. With a new partner Min-seong (Jae-ho Jang) in tow, Jae-hwan chases Jin-hyeok into a wooded area and wrestles with him until they both disappear over a ledge and both men vanish and can’t be found, despite an extensive search. However, a month later both men turn up to the police station in a car. Jae-hwan emerging from the car with Jin-hyeok handcuffed. Once inside the station, everyone is happy Jae-hawn is back but Jin-hyeok says that he will talk but only to one cop in particular, Jae-hwan’s partner Min-seong. When Jin-hyeok and Min-seong are alone, Jin-hyeok tells him a big secret – that somehow, he has swapped bodies and he is really Jae-hwan and Jin-hyeok is in his real body.
Jae-hoon Kim directs this film like a veteran director when this is his first solo director gig. The choices he makes are fantastic, keeping the film moving at a breakneck pace. His action scenes are really well done and Jae-hoon’s camera doesn’t flinch when it comes to the violence either. The violence in Devils is bone crunching, bloodletting, knife through flesh graphic and it really makes an impact.
The acting all round is great. The two leads are good on their own and when together have a fantastic chemistry, feeding off each other when they share scenes. Kim doubling as the writer as well as director, has created a particular world, a bit like Jae-hwan, it is singularly focussed, and the world doesn’t begin to expand until the reveal that Jin-hyeok tells Min-seong. Kim’s characters are all flawed, whether they be good or evil and this makes the film feel more realistic and creates a level of care for the characters involved until – and I am being vague here on purpose – a certain reveal of intention or action from one or two of the characters forces you to view the film from an angle not thought of and it’s perfect placement in the third act kicks off a great finale.
You’ll need your wits about you for Devils because there is a lot of information to take in and at first it might seem needlessly complicated, but it isn’t – you just need to follow along closely. Yet another gem in the Korean revenge film crown, Devils is a fantastic film that you should see as soon as you can.
Played at the Fantasia International Film Festival.
Ryan Morrissey-Smith
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