Monster (2014 Film)
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''Monster'' () is a 2014
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
n
action thriller film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...
written and directed by Hwang In-ho, starring
Lee Min-ki Lee Min-ki (born January 16, 1985) is a South Korean actor, singer, and model. Lee's first leading role in television was in the 2005 sports drama ''Taereung National Village''. He has gone on to star in many television series, including ''Lov ...
and
Kim Go-eun Kim Go-eun (; born July 2, 1991) is a South Korean actress. She debuted in the film '' Eungyo'' (2012) where she won several Best New Actress awards in South Korea. She is also known for her roles in the television series '' Cheese in the Trap ...
.


Plot

Independent and aggressive, Bok-soon is known around the neighborhood as a "psycho bitch" because of her weird behavior. She is "slow" and not very smart due to a
developmental disability Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...
, but is nonetheless a brave young woman with a happy inner world. Bok-soon manages to make a living by running a street stall at the local market with her younger sister Eun-jeong, whom she loves more than life itself. The name-calling doesn't affect her at all, and she only cares about working hard and saving up money for Eun-jeong's education. Their relatively peaceful life is disrupted when Tae-soo, who lives alone in a deserted forest, kills Bok-soon's beloved sister because Eun-jeong may have stumbled upon the truth of his murderous lifestyle. Bok-soon is completely consumed by her grief, madness and uncontrollable rage. Despite her limited mental ability, she begins planning her revenge, and joins up with Na-ri, a little girl who is being chased by Tae-soo, after he killed her elder sister Yeon-Hee. Tae-soo is a merciless, unpredictable
serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...
who commits brutal murders for no reason, then methodically covers up his tracks. He cares deeply for his adoptive family, stepmother Kyeong-ja and older brother Ik-sang, who took him in as a young boy. But it was his family's opportunistic attitude to exploit Tae-soo despite their disgust and fear towards him that only aggravated the loneliness and monstrosity within him. Eventually, Kyeong-ja and Ik-sang secretly bring in some gangsters to her restaurant in an attempt to kill Tae-soo, whom they invited for a meal. With his animalistic senses, Tae-soo escapes death, but ends up getting terribly injured, yet manages to kill them all, his stepmother and her son and apparently Na-ri (whom Tae-soo took along). Bok-soon finds Tae-soo just then, and a deadly battle unfolds between this frail but strong young woman and the bemused, ruthless killer that ruined her life. After finally stabbing him to death, she finds out that the little girl is alive. Then Yeon-Hee's ex-boss appears, who previously asked Ik-sang to buy Yeon-Hee's phone from its owner, so she can't blackmail him with recorded video showing his abusive behavior towards her. But Tae-soo, asked by his step-brother to make the purchase, kept the money, phone and killed Yeon-Hee instead. Asked by Yeon-Hee's ex-boss to give him the phone, Bok-soon does this and leave the gory restaurant with Na-ri.


Cast

*
Lee Min-ki Lee Min-ki (born January 16, 1985) is a South Korean actor, singer, and model. Lee's first leading role in television was in the 2005 sports drama ''Taereung National Village''. He has gone on to star in many television series, including ''Lov ...
as Tae-soo *
Kim Go-eun Kim Go-eun (; born July 2, 1991) is a South Korean actress. She debuted in the film '' Eungyo'' (2012) where she won several Best New Actress awards in South Korea. She is also known for her roles in the television series '' Cheese in the Trap ...
as Bok-soon * Kim Roi-ha as Ik-sang *Kim Boo-seon as Kyeong-ja *
Ahn Seo-hyun Ahn Seo-hyun (; born January 12, 2004) is a South Korean actress. She began her career as a child actress in 2008, and has since appeared in films and television series such as '' The Housemaid'' (2010), '' Single-minded Dandelion'' (2014) and ...
as Na-ri * Kim Bo-ra as Eun-jeong *Nam Gyeong-eup as Boss Jeon *Han Da-eun as Yeon-hee *
Park Byung-eun Park Byung-eun (; born July 14, 1977) is a South Korean actor. Early life and education Park majored in drama at Chung-Ang University. Park was set to debut with 90s South Korean boy group Taesaja in 1997, but gave up due to him feeling that ...
as Kwang-soo *
Bae Seong-woo Bae Seong-woo (; born November 21, 1972) is a South Korean actor. He has appeared in films such as '' Confession of Murder'' (2012), '' My Love, My Bride'' (2014), ''Office An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform ...
as Seong-moon *Kim Gyung-ae as Bok-soon's grandmother *Heo Joon-seok as leader of demolition team *
Yoo Jae-myung Yoo Jae-myung (; born June 3, 1973) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in the series ''Reply 1988'' (2015), ''Stranger'' (2017), ''Life'' (2018), ''Itaewon Class'' (2020) and '' Voice of Silence'' (2020). He won Best Suppo ...
as country police constable *
Park Chul-min Park Chul-min (; born January 18, 1967) is a South Korean actor. Career Park Chul-min began acting in his high school drama club at Chosun University High School, and though he majored in Business Administration at Chung-Ang University, he ...
as Boss Park ( cameo)


Reception

''Monster'' was released in theaters on March 13, 2014. Writer-director Hwang In-ho experimented by combining thriller and
comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
elements and pushing genre conventions to their extremes with strong stylistic overtones, but some reviews called the film "awkward," "unharmonious" and "almost
schizophrenic Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...
" as a result, while others criticized a perceived
misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...
beneath the film's ostensible message of female
empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...
. This negative criticism seemed to affect its early run, drawing 88,995 viewers on its opening weekend, behind '' Thread of Lies'' and '' 300: Rise of an Empire''. It recorded 357,000 admissions and () for its first week.


References


External links

* * * * {{Hwang In-ho South Korean films about revenge South Korean action thriller films South Korean serial killer films 2010s South Korean films