''The Night Owl'' () is a 2022 South Korean

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

thriller drama film directed by Ahn Tae-jin, starring

Ryu Jun-yeol Ryu Jun-yeol (; born September 25, 1986) is a South Korean actor, activist, and photographer. Ryu began his acting career in independent films, and then rose to prominence through his breakthrough role in the critically acclaimed television ser ...

and

Yoo Hae-jin Yoo Hae-jin (born January 4, 1970) is a South Korean actor. Career As a child, Yoo Hae-jin would often slip in through the backdoor of a cultural center near his home to watch events that were being held there. After seeing a play in eighth gra ...

. Set in the

Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

, it is based on the mystery surrounding the death of

Crown Prince Sohyeon Crown Prince Sohyeon (소현세자, 昭顯世子, 5 February 1612 – 21 May 1645) was the first son of King Injo of Joseon Dynasty. Sohyeon was a hostage in the Manchu court at Shenyang, by the terms of the peace treaty concluded after War ...

, who returned from the Qing Dynasty in the Joseon Injo period. It was released on November 23, 2022.

Premise

Kyung-soo is blind but has excellent acupuncture skills. He enters the palace after being recognized for his talent by Lee Hyung-ik. Around that time, Crown Prince Sohyeon, who was taken hostage by the Qing Dynasty, returned to Korea after 8 years. Injo, while happy for his son, is overcome with unknown anxiety for a while. Then one night, Kyung-soo, who can see faintly in the dark, witnesses the death of Crown Prince Sohyeon. As he tries to tell the truth, bigger secrets and conspiracies are revealed, putting his life at risk. After the death of his son, Injo's anxiety turns into madness and begins to run rampant, and Kyung-soo, who witnessed the death of the crown prince, attempts to reveal the truth behind the crown prince’s death.

Cast

as Kyung-soo *

King Injo Injo of Joseon (7 December 1595 – 17 June 1649), born Yi Jong, was the sixteenth ruler of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. He was the grandson of King Seonjo and son of Prince Jeongwon. He was the king during the Later Jin invasion of Joseon, ...

Choi Moo-sung Choi Myung-soo (born January 12, 1968), better known by his stage name Choi Moo-sung, is a South Korean actor. Filmography Film Television series Awards and nominations References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Moo-su ...

as Lee Hyung-ik *

Jo Sung-ha Jo Sung-ha (; born August 8, 1966) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his supporting roles in '' The Yellow Sea'' (2010), '' Helpless'' (2012), and ''Korean Peninsula'' (2012) and ''The K2 ''The K2'' () is a 2016 South Korean tele ...

as Young Eui-jeong *

Park Myung-hoon Park Myung-hoon ( ko, 박명훈; born May 28, 1975), is a South Korean actor. He made his acting debut as a stage actor in the 1999 play ''Class''. He is best known internationally for his role as Geun-sae in the Academy Award winning film ''Para ...

as Man-sik *

Kim Sung-cheol Kim Sung-cheol (; born December 31, 1991) is a South Korean actor. He achieved initial success in stage musicals before being cast in his debut television role as Kim Young-cheol (a.k.a. 'Jailbird') in ''Prison Playbook'' (2017). He is recognis ...

Ahn Eun-jin Ahn Eun-jin (Korean: 안은진; Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. ...

as Jo So-yong * Jo Yoon-seo as

Crown Princess Minhoe Crown Princess Minhoe of the Geumcheon Kang clan (Hangul: 민회빈 강씨, Hanja: 愍懷嬪姜氏; 8 April 1611 - 30 April 1646), also known as Crown Princess Consort Sohyeon (), was the wife of Crown Prince Sohyeon, the son of King Injo of Jose ...

* Lee Joo-won as Yi Seok-cheol, the eldest son of

Reception

Box office

, it is the fifth highest-grossing Korean film of 2022, with a gross of US$23,683,391, and 3,084,594 admissions. On December 23, 2022, ''The Night Owl'' surpassed 3 million cumulative audiences on this afternoon. An additional 900,000 people were mobilized in two weeks after exceeding the break-even point of 2.1 million on the 8th, which led the box office for three consecutive weeks.

References

External links

* * * * 2022 films 2020s historical films 2020s Korean-language films Films set in the Joseon dynasty South Korean historical films 2020s South Korean films {{SouthKorea-film-stub