South Korean thriller Devils starts off fast-paced as we witness the murder of detective Jae-hwan’s (Oh Dae-hwan) partner, who also happens to be his brother-in-law. The perpetrator is Chin Jin-hyuk (Jang Dong-yoon of last year’s Project Wolf Hunting). He’s the de facto leader of a group of serial killers whom the police have been after for years. But 2 years later, when the detectives finally close in on the group, a foot chase leads to both Jae-hwan and Jin-hyuk’s disappearances. After waking up in the hospital a month later, Jae-hwan discovers he’s in the body of Jin-hyuk, and the killer is now leaving with his wife and daughter.
Part Face/Off, part I Saw the Devil, Devils certainly leans more towards the more grim tone of I Saw the Devil than the classic John Woo actioner. Darker and more sadistic, Devils replaces elaborate action set pieces with scenes of brutal interrogation, torture, and murder. But the film also keeps in mind the inherent ludicrous nature of producing a body swap movie and does manage to sprinkle a couple of moments of levity along the way. The film rests squarely on the shoulders of the two leads though and both Dae-hwan and Dong-yoon are more than up to the task.
As things start to unravel and as the film explains more things at the beginning of the third act, the audience gets to see all the machinations. The filmmakers manage to draw the audience in further with an explanation of the events that while still far-fetched actually seem plausible. But that just sets the table for an utterly ridiculous finale, with more action movie style setup than the entire rest of the film combined. Still, as the screen fades to black, audiences should be very satisfied.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teJyUHZuSRU
- Rated: 18
- Genre: Horror, Thriller
- Release Date: 7/26/2023
- Directed by: Kim Jae-hoon
- Starring: Choi Gwi-hwa, Jang Dong-yoon, Jang Jae-ho, Oh Dae-hwan, Shin Seung-hwan, Son Jong-Hak
- Produced by: Cho Il-hyung, Gu Sung-mok, Kim Sang-yoon
- Written by: Kim Jae-hoon
- Studio: Finecut
