No Mercy

In-ae has just come out of prison. She goes to collect her sister Eun-hye, who has a mental disability and was living in an institution while she was inside. But Eun-hye is not there. She has disappeared and nobody has looked for her. In-ae starts searching. The trail leads to a group of school students and to a larger circle behind them. The police are not interested, the institution takes no responsibility, and In-ae decides to settle it herself. Lim Kyoung-tack directs. Lee Si-young plays In-ae. Lee Si-young boxed as well as acting and performed part of the fight scenes herself, which is what the film was most talked about for. The narrative proceeds in the known shape of Korean revenge cinema, this time with a woman at the centre. The matter it treats is institutions not working; the narrative blames the police and the social services directly. The violence is hard and the narrative does not draw it out; the fights are short and crude. Its limit is the script; the plot is familiar and the characters on the other side are one dimensional. The position of the disabled character in the narrative caused argument; the film largely uses her as a device for motivation. Who it is for: viewers who like Korean revenge thrillers and fight scenes. Who it is not for: the violence is heavy, the subject uncomfortable, and the narrative predictable.