• Release year: 2025
• Director: Jin-hwang Kim.
• Screenplay by: Jin-hwang Kim.
• Editing by: Sang-beom Kim.
• Music by: Hwang Sang Jun and Hyung-woo Noh.

Shotgun Commentary: way more dragged-on than you would expect a K-thriller to be, still interesting though.

Review

Nocturnal is a Korean thriller protagonist by an ex-mobster, Min-Tae (Ha Jung-woo), who is investigating his brother’s death. The deceased is far from innocent or harmless, which makes the suspect list pretty long, including two rival mafias.

However, Min-Tae soon learns about a book, ‘Nocturnal’, that is suspiciously similar to his brother’s wife’s life. The wife, Moon-young (Yoo Da-in), conveniently disappears around the same time that the body is found, making her the prime suspect.

Enjoy the journey

The story is quite slow-paced, the investigation develops slowly, and many parts of it seem unnecessarily dragged on. Nevertheless, the mystery unravels beautifully. Despite having a pretty predictable endgame, this is one of those films where the journey is more important than the destination.

There are many elements at play, and it is up to you which ones to pay attention to. A fun game of misdirection where it’s not so much about who did it, but rather who is linked to the fact and how.

Style and purpose

As usual with this subgenre of films, the style is neat and slick. The use of colour is purposeful. The general colour palette is cold and aseptic, which highlights the appearance of other tones and how they change the mood to more hospitable or mysterious environments. Not to mention how aesthetically pleasing the red of the blood looks against a myriad of blues, blacks and whites.

As expected from a thriller of this sort, the actions scenes are perfectly choreographed, making the most violent of encounters oddly graceful and pleasing to the eye. Despite the general satisfaction one gets watching “the bad guys” get beat up, the camera movements and angles enhance these moments to provide the best perspective possible.

As such, it is a shame that there are merely two big fight scenes in the whole feature. One would expect that talent to be exploited further, but alas, it was not meant to be.

Talk the talk, lead the film

Instead, you get a great deal of conversations and the odd skirmish, which serves as a reminder of how cool the protagonist is, without necessarily making a whole scene out of his physical prowess. As for the conversations, they are quite fascinating, even when they feel a bit repetitive or pointlessly dragged on. This is because, in a world where everybody lies, sometimes repeating similar questions can help you get to the truth. Still, in order to make these scenes work, you need a great cast and, luckily, Nocturnal does have it.

Ha Jung-woo is great in his role of quiet ex-criminal who only wants a quiet life and justice for his brother, not the most innovative of characters, but still perfectly executed by Ha. As the supporting characters, they are all amazing in their deliveries. All the characters lie, have small tells, and follow their own unknown agenda, which makes the interactions with the main character all the more thrilling.

All in all, Nocturnal is a very decent thriller. It is a bit lacking in action and sometimes the plot gets repetitive, but overall it is a great experience.

Advice to take from this movie:

• If you want to prevent the death of an abuser, help the victim before she helps herself.
• Killers always look way better in a suit. #facts
• Standing coat racks have more than one use, who knew…

What’s your take? Have you watched Nocturnal? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀