Netflix’s newaction drama movieKill Boksoonhas received a plethora of positive reviews since it premiered on the platform on Mar. 31. The movie houses a brilliant cast with Jeon Do-yeon as Gil Boksoon. Do-yeon also starred as the protagonist of Netflix’s thriller romanceCrash Course in Romance,which premiered on the platform early this year.
Other cast members include Kim Si-a as Gil Jae-young, Sol Kyung-gu as Cha Min-kyu, and Esom as Cha Min-hee. Writer and director Byun Sung-hyun smartly and brilliantly executes the action scenes alongside the gentle and sharp edges of the prominent mother-daughter relationship in the movie.
The Mother-Daughter Duo
The movie first introduces Gil Boksoon as a star employee for her company MK ent and how she can calculate possible outcomes and save herself. And from here, the story progresses to look at her as a mother, separate fromthe brutal and violent world of killing. Her relationship with her daughter, Jae-young, is tense, and it is easy to note that as the movie progresses, it will also aim to unravel the layers of their relationship, especially as we find out that Jae-young is in a relationship with her best friend, which also becomes a reason why she gets blackmailed.
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There is a stark difference between Boksoon as a contract killer and Boksoon as a mother. But at the same time,her daughter’s wayof thinking also influences her and adds a new perspective on how she looks at life. But even as she meets up with her friends and the history of these contract businesses unravels, it is hard to see what direction the movie will take. Around the same time, her daughter’s story runs parallel as she gets suspended for stabbing someone with a pair of scissors. Why? Because he tried to blackmail her into going out with him. In exchange, he would not release pictures of her and her girlfriend. Soon, it all starts to fall into place together.
The Swift Change
Boksoon gets an assignment to kill someone who recently turned eighteen and to make it look like a suicide. And since, for the first time, her emotions take over, and she notes it down as a failure. Her boss, Cha Min-kyu, could easily figure out that Boksoon was lying and that she didn’t complete the mission purposely. This leaves room for a deal. Boksoon promises to renew her contract if no one else is sent to her place to complete her failed mission. In exchange, Min-kyu gets to decide how long Boksoon’s contract will last.
The tension continues to rise as Jae-young, after coming clean to her mother about what happened, wants to know more about Boksoon and ultimately concludes thatshe works for the CIA. Instead of relief that Jae-young is unaware of the truth, it adds to the stress that she might find out one day. While Boksoon, in her job, is a heartless contract killer who kills with a sweet smile, she wants to raise her daughter in a socially normative household to conform with society and love whoever she wants. Furthermore, her acceptance of Jae-young’s sexuality and ability to learn how to talk to her adds to the exposure of the LGBTQ+ community, which is struggling to find social and legal acceptance inSouth Korea’s conservative society.
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Now while Min-kyu, in his fondness for Boksoon, promises what she asked for, his sister, Cha Min-hee, takes a different approach out of jealousy. She turns all of Boksoon’s friends against her. And in a world of constant violence, sparring between friends doesn’t end in a few broken bones but in death. So, all her friends die, and she remains standing with an intern from MK ent who supported her. Here, Boksoon also tries to protect the intern, but Min-kyu kills her.
And as the truth comes to light, Boksoon goes against her promise not to kill Min-hee, which ultimately strains her relationship with Min-kyu, and they end up in a duel. Here, a beautiful CGI transition is seen as Boksoon imagines all the possible outcomes of her battle with Min-kyu. In each of them, she dies. But, in reality, Boksoon approaches the fight emotionally rather than physically. And eventually, she wins. But at what cost? Because Min-kyu lets Boksoon know that she might have survived the battle, but she lost at life with Jae-young having received a tablet showing live footage of Boksoon and Min-kyu fighting to the death.
What the Ending Means
Kill Boksoonsurprisingly left the viewers with an open ending.No storyline was fully closed, and it was up to the viewer to decide what happens. Though Boksoon killed her boss, Min-kyu, there is no clear picture of her future and the future of the businesses without their chair. At the same time, Gil Jae-young’s story’s next part is open to the viewers' interpretation. Did she really see Boksoon kill Min-kyu? Or was it a threat that bore no impact? Maybe it was nothing, and Jae-young will go on to hide what she’s seen. Having bid goodbye to her ex-girlfriend, this will be a new start for both Boksoon and Jae-young. Either way, the ending leaves a strong impression on the viewer and a longing for more. And a reminder here to not miss out on the post-credit scene!
