''The Suspect'' () is a 2013

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

spy film The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond films) ...

starring

Gong Yoo Gong Ji-cheol (; born July 10, 1979), better known by his stage name Gong Yoo (), is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in the television dramas '' Coffee Prince'' (2007), '' Guardian: The Lonely and Great God'' (2016–2017), ...

, and directed by

Won Shin-yun Won Shin-yun (born October, 1969) is a South Korean film director. Won has the unique background of having been a stuntman before making his directorial horror film debut ''The Wig'' (2005). He filmed a series of thrillers, including ''A Bloody ...

Plot

Ji Dong-cheol was once one of the top special forces agent in North Korea, but after a change in political system, he was abandoned by his government while on a mission. He goes on the run, seeking his wife and daughter who were sold as slaves to China, only to discover their corpses. When he learns that an ex-colleague was behind their deaths, Dong-cheol goes on a vendetta for revenge,

defecting In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

to the South to chase his family's killer. Now living incognito, he searches for his nemesis during the day, and at night works as a personal chauffeur for Chairman Park, a business executive with ties to

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...

. One night the chairman is attacked and killed by an assassin, but not before handing over a special pair of glasses to Dong-cheol. The South Korean intelligence service, a member of which

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

s Dong-cheol for the murder, goes on the hunt for the beleaguered former spy. The manhunt is led by Min Se-hoon, a colonel and drill sergeant with whom Dong-cheol shares a past, and Kim Seok-ho, the director of the

NIS Nis, Niš, NiS or NIS may refer to: Places * Niš, a city in Serbia * Nis, Iran, a village * Ness, Lewis ( gd, Nis, links=no), a village in the Outer Hebrides islands Businesses and organizations * Naftna Industrija Srbije, Petroleum Industry o ...

. Aided by a feisty documentary filmmaker, Dong-cheol goes on the run again while trying to recover top-secret materials that his dying boss sent him to find.

Cast

as Ji Dong-cheol, a former highly ranked North Korean spy turned defector investigating the murder of his family and accused of the murder of a business executive *

Park Hee-soon Park Hee-soon (; born February 13, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He graduated with a Theater degree from Seoul Institute of the Arts, and was a member of the Mokwha Repertory Company from 1990 to 2001. He became active in film beginning 2002, a ...

as Min Se-hoon, a South Korean NIS operative demoted to drill sergeant after a failed mission where Ji Dong-cheol spared him *

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 Kim Seok-ho,

director, the main antagonist *

Yoo Da-in Yoo Da-in (born Ma Young-seon on February 9, 1984) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her performance in the indie film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is pr ...

as Choi Kyung-hee, filmmaker of a documentary on North Korean defectors who follows Dong-cheol around and sympathizes with his past *

Kim Sung-kyun Kim Sung-kyun (born May 25, 1980) is a South Korean actor. Kim began his career in theatre, then made his screen debut as a gangster boss's faithful henchman in '' Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time'', followed by supporting roles in '' The Ne ...

as Ri Kwang-jo, a North Korean defector who Ji Dong-cheol believes killed his family *

Jo Jae-yoon Jo Jae-yoon (born September 15, 1974) is a South Korean actor. He made his acting debut in 2003 and has since starred as a supporting actor in numerous films and television series, including '' The Man from Nowhere'' (2010), ''The Chaser'' (2012 ...

as Captain Jo, who assists Min Se-hoon and investigates Ji Dong-cheol's innocence *

Park Ji-il Park Ji-il (Korean: 박지일, born September 1960) is a South Korean theatre, film and television actor. He is known for his supporting roles in various TV series and films. His better known works are: 2011 TV series ''The Thorn Birds'', 2013 ...

as Executive director Song * Kim Min-jae as Reporter Joo *

Kim Eui-sung Kim Eui-sung (; born December 17, 1965) is a South Korean actor. He is known for his roles in films ''The Day a Pig Fell into the Well'' (1996), ''Office'' (2015), '' The Exclusive: Beat the Devil's Tattoo'' (2015) and ''Train to Busan'' (2016); ...

as Deputy department head Shin * Won Poong-yeon as Kim Seok-ho's underling * Won Jin as SA1 *

Song Jae-rim Song Jae-rim (; born February 18, 1985) is a South Korean actor and model. He began his career as a runway model for the Seoul collections of Juun. J, Herin Homme and Ha Sang Beg. He has also appeared in the magazines Bazaar Korea, Vogue Girl ...

as Professor Kim (SA2) * Choi Jong-ryul as Butler Moon *

Nam Bo-ra Nam Bo-ra (; born November 27, 1989) is a South Korean actress. She appeared in '' Sunny'', ''Moon Embracing the Sun ''Moon Embracing the Sun'' (, also known as ''The Moon that Embraces the Sun'' or ''The Sun and the Moon'') is a 2012 South K ...

as Ji Dong-cheol's wife * Lee Na-eun as Ri Kwang-jo's wife *

Song Jae-ho Song Jae-ho (born Song Jae-eon; 10 March 1937 – 7 November 2020) was a South Korean actor. Career He made his acting debut in 1959, and became best known for his work in 1970s and 1980s Korean cinema, notably ''Yeong-ja's Heydays'' (1975). S ...

as Haejoo Group president Park Geon-ho *

Gi Ju-bong Gi Ju-bong (born September 3, 1955) is a South Korean actor. Career Gi began acting in 1977 and is notable for '' Offending the Audience'', '' Sorum'' (2001), ''Viva! Love'' (2008) and ''The Spy Gone North ''The Spy Gone North'' () is a 2 ...

as coroner * Jo Seok-hyun as Colonel Choi * Lee Yong-jik as bearded stranger * Choi Tae-hwan as mysterious casualty * Lee Dong-jin as North wanderer

Production

Yoon Kye-sang Yoon Kye-sang (; born December 20, 1978) is a South Korean actor and singer. He began his career in 1999 as part of the K-pop boy band g.o.d, then left the group in 2004 and pursued an acting career. He made his acting debut in the film ''Flying ...

was originally cast in the lead role, but dropped out after co-star

Choi Min-sik Choi Min-sik (born April 27, 1962) is a South Korean actor. He received critical acclaim for his roles in '' Oldboy'' (2003), ''I Saw the Devil'' (2010) and '' The Admiral: Roaring Currents'' (2014). For his role in ''Oldboy'', he won the Best ...

left the project.

was eventually cast, and the protagonist's name "Ji Dong-cheol" is similar to the actor's

birth name A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth r ...

, Gong Ji-cheol. To create the right physique for his role, Gong went on a

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

for three months to reduce his

body fat Adipose tissue, body fat, or simply fat is a loose connective tissue composed mostly of adipocytes. In addition to adipocytes, adipose tissue contains the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of cells including preadipocytes, fibroblasts, vascular en ...

. He learned the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

martial art Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

Systema Systema (russian: Система, Sistema, system) is a Russian martial art. There are multiple schools of systems that began appearing after the end of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, with teachers claiming their respective "systems" (usually ...

for the film's fight scenes, and performed

car chase A car chase or vehicle pursuit is the vehicular overland chase of one party by another, involving at least one automobile or other wheeled motor vehicle in pursuit, commonly hot pursuit of suspects by law enforcement. The rise of the automotive ...

rock climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

and

skydiving Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. For ...

at the Han River without using

stuntmen A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

. The film was partly shot in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

in April 2013.

Release

''The Suspect'' opened in South Korea on December 24, 2013. It was a box office hit, with 4.1 million admissions. The film's distribution rights was sold to seven territories, including North America, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, the Middle East and German-speaking countries. Will Go USA screened the film in 15 theaters in the United States on January 10, 2014.

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 75% based on eight reviews, with an average rating of 6.67/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score of 63 out of 100, based on five critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' praised the film's "inspired and teeth-grittingly determined" set pieces. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' wrote that the film "should entertain any action buff," while ''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'', a film journal in the UK, also gave a good review: "the style of the action scenes is so explosive and immersive that the movie even threatens the reputation of the ''

007 The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

'' series." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reviewed that the "guns-or-butter dichotomy" is "more resonant than you'd expect."

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Suspect (2013 film), The South Korean action thriller films South Korean spy thriller films 2013 films 2010s Korean-language films Films directed by Won Shin-yun South Korean chase films 2013 action thriller films 2010s spy thriller films 2010s South Korean films