Jeon Do-Yeon Is A Star Assassin In The Noir K-Comedy ‘Kill Boksoon’

Raising a teenager is hard—even without having to schedule contract killings between parental responsibilities. But that’s the balancing act facing Boksoon, played by Jeon Do-yeon, in the Korean film Kill Boksoon. She has a teenage daughter, played by Kim Si-a, but she also has a boss, Cha Min-kyu, played by Sol Kyung-gu. The boss of her assassins-for-hire company is even more demanding than her teenager.

In this alternate comic-book-reality of a film, there’s a multitude of competitively ranked companies that kills for hire. Min-kyu’s company, MK, ranks the highest and Boksoon is his star killer. At company headquarters assassinations are staged and rehearsed, referred to as “shows” or “shoots,” making MK seem like an entertainment company. While entertainment companies might be cutthroat, MK’s star assassins actually cut throats. They may also be cut. If an assassin does not follow the company’s code of ethics that killer risks being assassinated.

When the film opens Boksoon is charged with eliminating an extensively tattooed Yakuza member clad only in his underwear. He’s got an ancient sword with a heritage of bloody murders. She’s got a hatchet she picked up at Walmart. She can’t afford to fight fair. She has to survive.

Boksoon is a gifted assassin, but it’s a line of work with limited socializing. She can’t trust her colleagues or contemporaries and she doesn’t quite fit in with the other moms at her daughter’s private school. Her only close relationship is with her daughter, who has reached the age where teens often keep secrets and want to hold parents at a distance. Killing people pays well. It pays for Boksoon’s lavish apartment and for the private school she sends her daughter to, but Boksoon worries her daughter will find out what she does.

Kill Boksoon is a dark comedy in the tradition of Korean films such as The Quiet Family, My Wife Is A Gangster, The Foul King or even Bong Joon-ho’s debut film Barking Dogs Don’t Bite.

It’s also an action film with entertainingly energetic action scenes, in which Boksoon can seemingly defeat anyone. The action is meticulously choreographed and Jeon handles her scenes with grace and agility.

Jeon interacts with a solid cast of supporting actors, including Koo Kyo-hwan, as a second tier assassin and sometime love interest, and Esom as Boksoon’s nemesis at MK. Hwang Jung-min makes a special appearance as the Yakuza gangster and the usual suspects—character actors who often play gangsters in k-dramas— populate the killers’ underworld.

Boksoon has been trained to look for an opponent’s weakness and hers is her daughter. While she’s confident in her ability to take down a gangster, she’s not sure she does her best as a mom. If there’s a message to this movie, it’s summed up in something Boksoon says. Killing people is simple compared to being a parent. Everything else in this noir comedy is just meant to be enjoyed.

The remorseless Boksoon is again a completely different role for Jeon, who recently played a kind banchan shop owner in the hit TV drama Crash Course in Romance and before that the suicidal Bu-jeong in the drama Lost. Boksoon radiates far more confidence than either of those characters. She’s not concerned about how others might see her—except for her daughter.

The entire cast of Kill Boksoon has plenty of impressive credits between them. Sol Kyung-gu appeared in the film Kingmaker and the award-winning Book of Fish. Koo Kyo-Hwan appeared in the award-winning film Escape From Mogadishu and the hit TV drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo. Esom can be seen in the award-winning film Samjin Company: English Class and the TV drama Taxi Driver. Kim Si-a was the child android in the film The Silent Sea and the young Jun Ji-hyun in the historical zombie drama Kingdom: Ashin of the North.

Written and directed by Byun Sung-hyun, Kill Boksoon was officially invited to the Berlinale Special section at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival. In the US the film can be seen on Netflix
NFLX
as of March 31.