Blood-soaked contracts. Daggers to the heart. Bullets to the head. All as easy as the next breath. But single parenting and sorting out your love life? Such are challenges not for the faint of heart. Because really, who among us wouldn’t sooner snuff out a life or face down death if it meant putting off being vulnerable for a moment longer? Perhaps, that’s a hair extreme. But when you’re a world-renowned assassin struggling with work-life balance, those seemingly harsh extremes quickly become common far-too-oftens. Then you blink and its decades later, before you realize that maybe, just maybe, you’ve been avoiding what actually matters within your contract-kill-craze existence … actual life. Let’s get into it.
Kill Bok-soon is written and directed by Byun Sung-hyun and stars Jeon Do-yeon as legendary killer for hire, Gil Boksoon, a single mom that can best any challenge that isn’t her distant daughter or tenuous love life. And deep within the heyday of John Wick like films and anti-heroes, it’s very refreshing to see one that uses action, violence, and the secretive hitman underworld trope as supportive pieces to a character study, rather than the other way around.
To give an example of the latter, John Wick to me feels like it’s using its titular anti-hero to showcase the violence and the world of which he lives in more than the aforementioned elements are saying anything about him. He’s simply a vengeful force of nature that only seeks to show off a mythical criminal underground as well the full extent of the legend that is John Wick the Killer. And as epic of a blood-filled spectacle as it all shapes out to be, it doesn’t say a whole lot about the man himself. Not the legend. Not the Baba Yaga. But person, John Wick. And I would argue the rest of sequels are equally at fault in this. It doesn’t take away from their entertainment or technical value. But it’s just something these films don’t seem to be terribly interested in. Such, I would argue, is the case for most copycat films/ franchises like Maria, Nobody, Kate, Gunpowder Milkshake, Polar, The Protege, Equalizer, etc. Each of these has a little bit of their own spin on the John Wick formula, but nearly all fall into the same camp of world, lore, and action, before character. Kill Boksoon does not.
In this film, the action shines with stylized flare, dazzling choreography, and nail-biting grit. It’s a true feast for the eyes. But it’s used far more as an exclamation point to the emotional drama of Bok-soon’s life. Because even though she sometimes has her back against the wall in a brawl, there’s always a high element of precision, intent, and control. In contrast, when it comes to love, friendships, or parenting, her performance isn’t clunky per se, but you can definitely tell there’s a reluctance and brewing worry when she faces down emotion. A brilliant showcase of this contrast is how different physical and emotional conflicts play out for her.
(WARNING - Mild spoilers ahead. Nothing specific to plot beats or actual events.)
When Bok-soon finds herself in a physical battle, her thoughts on possible choices and their outcomes manifest on screen, before she ultimately comes to a decision, demonstrating tactfulness, experience, and confidence. But when she finds herself in an uncomfortable conversation, there is no projection of possibility. She lives and breathes in the moment because she lacks the ability to foresee any outcome in situations she often spent avoiding.
The brilliance of this contrast really shines when the film marries elements of both situations together, prompting showdowns packed with so much emotion that there seems to be no other recourse, but lethal brutality. But then and there is where the flawed logic lies. Because violence solutions to matters of the heart and soul frequently prove to be like a band aid over a bleeding heart. And for Bok-soon, it always seems to be a question of how well or rather how long she can maintain her personal life with tactics of her secret life.
Kill Bok-soon is a riveting tale of work-life balance of a morally questionable single mother pushed to its furthest extreme. It may not be as much of an action romp as its trailer makes it out to be, but it does not disappoint when it’s time to throw down. Moreover, its story, although intriguing, intense, and sometimes even funny, is not perfect, particularly when it comes to the wrap for one of the supporting characters. It’s a small thing, but there's just a little button at the end that, although appears necessary to wrap up that character's particular story, feels like it emotionally takes away from where most would think the overall story is supposed to end.
Perhaps it could have been implemented more seamlessly somewhere else or cut all together. But even with that small blemish and perhaps a slightly broken promise over the exact quantity of action in the film, I found the overall experience to be a delightful surprise of broken hearts, souls, and bones. The real question is, does Bok-soon or any of her peers make it out happily or at least alive? You’ll just have to give the film a watch to find out.
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