Commitment

Myung-hoon's father was a North Korean agent. An operation in the south failed and the man died. His family pays for it; his son and small daughter are sent to a labour camp. An offer comes to Myung-hoon: if he goes south and finishes a job his sister will be released. He accepts. He is placed in Seoul under the identity of a high school student. His task is to find an agent who defected. There is a girl at the school; Hye-in has no father and everyone picks on her, and Myung-hoon is like her. A settling of accounts begins among the factions in the north and he is caught between two sides. Park Hong-soo directs. T.O.P plays Myung-hoon and Han Ye-ri plays Hye-in. It is a Korean production. T.O.P was known as a member of the group Big Bang and this was his first leading part. What the narrative builds is not the mission but the bond; the character works not for himself but for his sister, and that determines every decision. The school sections are the second strand and carry a register entirely apart from the espionage. The fights are at close range and weighted toward knives; the narrative keeps the use of guns limited. Its limit is balance; the passages between spy tension and high school drama do not always hold. Another limit is the script; the political ground is simplified and the ending tied to a shape. Who it is for: viewers who like Korean spy films and action drama. Who it is not for: the shape is familiar, the register uneven, and the violence explicit.