Monster (2014 film)

Monster (Korean: 몬스터; RR: Monseuteo) is a 2014 South Korean action thriller film^[2] written and directed by Hwang In-ho, starring Lee Min-ki and Kim Go-eun.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]}

Monster
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Hwang In-ho
Written by	Hwang In-ho
Produced by	Kim Min-kyoung Ahn Sang-hoon
Starring	Lee Min-ki Kim Go-eun
Cinematography	Kim Gi-tae
Edited by	Steve M. Choe Park Gyeong-suk
Music by	Lee Jae-jin
Distributed by	Lotte Entertainment
Release date	March 13, 2014 (2014-03-13)
Running time	113 minutes
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean
Box office	US$3.8 million[1]

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, 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 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.^[9][10][11] 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 as Tae-soo
• Kim Go-eun as Bok-soon
• Kim Roi-ha as Ik-sang
• Kim Boo-seon as Kyeong-ja
• Ahn Seo-hyun as Na-ri
• Kim Bo-ra as Eun-jeong
• Nam Gyeong-eup as Boss Jeon
• Han Da-eun as Yeon-hee
• Park Byung-eun as Kwang-soo
• Bae Seong-woo as Seong-moon
• Kim Gyung-ae as Bok-soon's grandmother
• Heo Joon-seok as leader of demolition team
• Yoo Jae-myung as country police constable
• Park Chul-min 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 elements and pushing genre conventions to their extremes with strong stylistic overtones, but some reviews called the film "awkward," "unharmonious" and "almost schizophrenic" as a result, while others criticized a perceived misogyny beneath the film's ostensible message of female empowerment.^[12][13] 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.^[14] It recorded 357,000 admissions and ₩2.85 billion (US$2.66 million) for its first week.^[15]