Gangneung

Also known as Paid in Blood. Paid in Blood is Korean Crime Noir At It's Best. Paid in Blood is a gripping, violent piece of South Korean Crime Noir surrounding the power struggle between warring mobsters for control of a new Casino and hotel in South Korea.

This movie, like much of top notch Korean Cinema blurs the lines between what is conventionally considered good and evil. In Paid in Blood the majority of the characters are gangsters, but that doesn't make them inherently evil. In fact, the majority of the central characters are gangsters with a strong sense of loyalty and adherence to a code of conduct that prohibits the crossing of certain moral boundaries.

Director YOON Youngbin does an outstanding job creating an engaging and, sometimes, deeply moving film, whose characters are compelling and interesting. The cinematography, direction, and acting are first rate. The pacing and script bring to life this action-packed thriller.

While some of the lead characters are so definitively evil, and others good, they are crafted in a way that does not make them unrealistic to watch. YOO O-Seong and JANG Hyuk offer memorable performances with depth, range, and grit as the central adversaries in this thriller.

This film has many of the underlying themes that are prevalent in South Korean Cinema. It is also a high quality film that rivals anything Hollywood has produced.

This film is in Korean and subtitled in English.

I highly recommend this one. This may be one of the best films I have screened so far in 2022.