''Real'' () is a South Korean

neo-noir Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating s ...

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

based on a character from

Manhwa (; ) is the general Korean term for comics and print cartoons. Outside Korea, the term usually refers to South Korean comics. is greatly influenced by Japanese Manga comics. Modern Manhwa has extended its reach to many other countries. T ...

webtoons Webtoons (), are a type of digital comic that originated in South Korea usually meant to be read on smartphones. While webtoons were mostly unknown outside of Korea during their inception, there has been a surge in popularity internationally ...

superheroes comic book by InfinityOne Comics Entertainment & TMS Comics Inc. of the same name, produced by InfinityOne Films & Cove Pictures in association with Paradise Group and Chinese company

Alibaba Pictures Alibaba Pictures Group is a Chinese film company under the Alibaba Group. The film company was formerly ChinaVision Media, of which Alibaba Group bought a majority stake in late 2014. It subsequently was renamed from ChinaVision to Alibaba Pictur ...

and distributed by

CJ E&M CJ E&M (Hangul: 씨제이이앤엠, an initialism for CJ Entertainment & Media) is a South Korean entertainment and mass media company created by CJ Group in 2011. As of July 2018, CJ E&M is a division of CJ ENM. History CJ E&M was established a ...

. It is the second installment in the InfinityOne Extended Universe (IOEU), directed by Lee Sa-rang, starring

Kim Soo-hyun Kim Soo-hyun (; born February 16, 1988) is a South Korean actor. One of the highest-paid actors in South Korea, his accolades include four Baeksang Arts Awards, two Grand Bell Awards and one Blue Dragon Film Award. From 2012 to 2016 and in ...

Sung Dong-il Sung Dong-il (born April 27, 1967) is a South Korean actor. Sung made his acting debut in theater in 1987, then was recruited at the 1991 SBS open talent auditions. He rose to fame as the comic, Jeolla dialect-speaking character "Red Socks" in ...

, Lee Sung-min,

Sulli Choi Jin-ri (March 29, 1994 – October 13 or 14, 2019), better known by her stage name Sulli (), was a South Korean actress and singer. She first made her debut as a child actress, appearing as a supporting cast member on the SBS historical d ...

and Jo Woo-jin. The film was released on June 28, 2017 in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its ea ...

Synopsis

In the underworld of a fictional city, Jang Tae-yeong (

) is a successful gang boss and owner of a large casino. Disturbed by an entirely different personality that lies within himself, Jang decides to seek the help of Dr. Choi Jin-ki ( Lee Sung-min). To help Jang be rid of the other personality, Dr. Choi comes up with an elaborate plan which Jang follows through with, but it yields unexpected consequences. What then ensues is a battle between the real and fake Jang Tae-Yeong.

Cast

Main

as Jang Tae-yeong *

as Jo Won-geun * Lee Sung-min as Dr. Choi Jin-ki *

as Song Yoo-hwa * Jo Woo-jin as Sa Do-jin

Supporting

* Lee Gyung-young as No Yeom * Kim Hong-pa as Choi Nak-hyeon * Han Ji-eun as Han Ye-won * Rich Ting as Ryu Gil-soo * Choi Kwon as Head of Department Baek * Park Gyeong-ree as Restaurant Waitress * Jung Yi-seo as Secret room club addict *

Park Min-jung Park Min-jung is a South Korean actress. She is known for her roles in dramas such as '' The Smile Has Left Your Eyes'', '' Mad Dog'', '' The Tale of Nokdu'' and '' Nobody Knows''. She also appeared in movies '' The Wrath'', '' S.I.U'', '' The C ...

as Private hospital room nurse * Jung In-gyeom as Professor Kim * Lee Sang-hoon * Yoon Ji-kyeon * Yoon Kyung-ho as Broker * Hyun Bong-sik as Chinese gangster *

Ko Kyu-pil Ko Kyu-pil (born May 2, 1982) is a South Korean actor. He debuted in the 1993 South Korean children's film '' Kid Cop'' and has thus appeared in notable television series and films in a supporting role. Filmography Film Television ser ...

Cameo appearances

* Suzy as Song Yoo-hwa's best friend * Lee Ji-eun as Awards ceremony guide *

Kim Da-som Kim Da-som (born May 6, 1993), better known mononymously as Dasom, is a South Korean singer and actress. She is best known as a former member of South Korean girl group Sistar and formerly under Starship Entertainment. She has acted in films an ...

as Rehabilitation therapist * Ahn So-hee as Chinatown's sewing room worker *

Park Seo-joon Park Seo-joon (born Park Yong-kyu; December 16, 1988) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his starring roles in the television series '' Kill Me, Heal Me'' (2015), '' She Was Pretty'' (2015), '' Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth'' (2016 ...

as Dressed-up bodyguard *

Son Hyun-joo Son Hyun-joo (born June 24, 1965) is a South Korean actor. Since 1991, he has starred in numerous television series and films, such as '' First Love'' (1996), ''To Be With You'' (2002), '' My Rosy Life'' (2005), '' Tazza'' (2008), '' My Too Perf ...

as Patient with disability *Nam Kyung as Casino Waitress * Park Min-ha as Siesta's serving fairy

Groups

* Yumemiru Adolescence ** Akari Yamada - Sakura Yoshida **

Yuumi Shida is a Japanese model and actress who is affiliated with FirstOrder. She is best known for her role as Mai Takatsukasa/Maiden of Fate, the main heroine of the Kamen Rider series '' Kamen Rider Gaim''. Biography In 2008, Shida won the 16th Pichimo ...

- Hitomi Orii ** Karin Ogino - Yuka Okubo ** Kyouka (singer) - Nana Yasuda *

Cute (Japanese idol group) , was a Japanese girl group associated with Hello! Project and produced by Tsunku. Cute consisted of Maimi Yajima, Saki Nakajima, Airi Suzuki, Chisato Okai, and Mai Hagiwara, who were all members of Hello! Project Kids prior to the group's ...

Maimi Yajima is a Japanese singer and actress. She was a member and the leader of Cute, a girl idol group within Hello! Project. Career Yajima first joined Hello! Project in 2002 as one of the fifteen children chosen from the Hello! Project Kids audi ...

- Reika Izumi ** Saki Nakajima - Nanami Ozaki ** Airi Suzuki - Akane Okada **

Chisato Okai (born June 21, 1994, in Saitama, Japan) is a former Japanese pop singer, actress, model, and television personality. She first gained recognition when she joined Hello! Project Kids and later became one of the main vocalists of the Japanese ...

- Yuko Oguro **

Mai Hagiwara is a former Japanese singer and actress. At age 6, she auditioned for Hello! Project Kids in 2002 and later became part of Cute, a Japanese idol girl group associated with Hello! Project. Career 2002–2005: Hello! Project Kids, 4Kids In ...

- Saaya Mizuno

Production

*On October 12, 2015,

signed an agreement at the 20th Busan International Film Festival to fund the film. Paradise Group also co-invested with additional . It also filmed in the corporation's resort, Paradise City. *Director Lee Jung-sub dropped out of the film and was replaced by Lee Sa-rang, first-time filmmaker, owner of the production company of Real. *Filming began on January 3, 2016 and ended on June 30, 2016 in Paradise City, Yeongjongdo,

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

Release

The film was released cinematically on 28 June 2017, and later digitally in mid-July in South Korea. Taiwan became the first region outside of South Korea to have a cinematic release of the film, on 4 August 2017. It was released in Hong Kong on 16 November 2017 and in Japan on 14 April 2018.

Reception

''Real'' received mostly negative reviews during its initial release. ''MaxMovie''s review stated that despite Kim Soo-hyun giving justice to his dual roles, the film's plot is non-existent, the editing and special effects are amateurish, in addition to its action scenes being boring. One critic felt the story was confusing and named the film "one of the most distastrous films ever made". One critic proclaims ''Real'' to be a "future camp cult classic" that "is the 'real' deal".

Sitges Film Festival The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world's foremost ...

, one of the world's foremost international festivals specialising in fantasy and horror films, has included ''Real'' in its 2017 catalogue. The experimental adventure that is ''Real'' is in Kim Soo Hyun's words, not an endearing film that is easy for moviegoers to fall in love with. Yet, in the end, love it or hate it, there is no denying that ''Real'' is "one of the most singular Korean films to emerge in years". When ''Real'' was released for Digital Cable TV VOD and

IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded medi ...

subscription in South Korea, it topped the charts at its initial release. In contrast to its box office response, the movie fared reasonably well on the VOD chart. While it is released via VOD platform only in mid July, the movie ranked quite high on the overall chart of July 2017. ''Real'' received positive reviews upon its opening in Taiwan in early August. Critics praised Kim Soo Hyun’s acting, proclaiming that both main characters, despite looking identical, were easily distinguished through his use of body language, mannerisms, and voice acting. Expat Korean movie critic/blogger Pierce Conran included ''Real'' in his list of top 15 Korean movies of 2017 for its uniqueness and originality.

Box office

''Real'' grossed over $1M NTD (New Taiwan Dollar) in its first weekend of release in Taiwan. It was the highest initial week box office take for a Korean film at the time. The film grossed over $4.7M NTD in Taiwan.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 6904062
''Real'' on Naver

''Real'' on Daum

''Real'' on Sitges Film Festival
Films based on South Korean webtoons 2017 action films South Korean action films South Korean neo-noir films CJ Entertainment films 2017 films 2010s South Korean films