[FANTASIA 2018] ‘V.I.P.’ Review

The divide and struggle between North and South Korea is something that I, living in the Western world, can never really understand. But I do definitely understand a grasp for power, for control, and that’s what lives at the core of Park Hoon-jung’s 2017 thriller V.I.P.. Yes, this is a very grim story centered on a vicious serial killer, but it’s even more so a slow burn, neo-noir about procedure, politics, and corruption.

Kim Gwang-Il (Lee Jong-Suk) is the son of a powerful North Korean official who is the lead suspect behind a series of grisly murders. Chae Yi-Do (Kim Myung-Min) is a hard-boiled detective from the South that’s dead set on Gwang-Il for the killings, but forces beyond his grasp are bent on keeping him out of the detective’s hands. One of the forces is a shady FBI agent from the West (Peter Stormare) and another is Jay-hyuk (Jang Dong-gun), an agent from the National Intelligence Service who is reluctantly protecting Kim. Oh, and there’s also Dae-bum (Park Hee-soon) a detective from the North who has a vendetta to settle with the one who got away…you guessed it, Kim.

This movie is COMPLEX. I’m not entirely sure that I was on top of what transpired through the run time, likely partially due to cultural differences. But there are so many characters pulling in so many directions that it was hard to remember who was doing what and why. Visually, Park has made a really great looking thriller. I love his use of light and shadow, and though his characters are genre archetypes straight out of John Woo’s classics, he gets solid performances out of them. Lee Jong-Suk is definitely cast against his type with this killer role, which he plays with a smugness and a vile ease that you just want to smack across the room. Thankfully, Kim Myung-Min and Park Hee-soon there to do just that. Both men are gruff, mean, and individually focused. Kim’s almost constantly got a cigarette hanging from his lip, something that helps define him. Peter Stormare is laughably cast as an American agent, but he’s his usual Stormare self so it kinda works. None of these characters are anything new, but I felt they were well achieved.

This is the second film at Fantasia 2018 from Park Hoon-jung, the other being the far superior 2018 follow-up The Witch Part 1: The Subversion. That’s not to say that V.I.P. isn’t decent, because it is rather interesting. It’s another top notch production from Warner Brothers Korea. It’s also very dense, and movie is unflinchingly rough. This is a dark, dark movie, which makes a lot of sense coming from Park, but nevertheless needs to be known. When the movie gets horrific, it REALLY goes for it. For instance, you get to watch Kim’s style of killing from start to violent finish that is almost excruciating to get through. In the best way, for horror fans. A mixed bag, but ultimately won me over. Worth a look if you’re in the mood for a really dark, slightly twisty thriller, and ready to pay the requisite attention to appreciate it.

Outside of playing at Fantasia 2018, no release information for North America that I could find, but I’m sure it will find it’s way here eventually!