2023 - KILL BOKSOON , South Korean action/drama.

Coming to a streaming service near you, in this case Netflix, is this South Korean film about a for hire female assassin.  A lot of reviews have compared this film to a female version of a John Wick film but there is a little more going on here.  True, the setup is somewhat the same.  There are assassination organizations all over South Korea kind of like a chain of Starbucks coffee shops.  In this case Gil Bok-soon works for an organization called M. K. Ent.  She is their top killer.  Bok-soon also just happens to be a single mother dealing with a teenage daughter who has decided to come out as a lesbian.  The story involves how Bok-soon's navigates these two roles in her life as she attempts to stay out of trouble with her superiors at M.K. Ent. while raising her daughter.

There are plenty of fights, gunfights and many people getting stabbed with various sharp things.  Lots of violence for the most part but the single parent angle is kind of interesting, something John Wick never had to contend with.

The film is well directed by Byun Sung-hyun who also wrote the screenplay but the big selling point with this film is the performance of an actor named Jeon Do-yeon.  Here is a performer who expertly straddles the roles of cold blooded killer and the concerned parent of a teenager, this is an impressive performance.

 

The film has been criticized for it's length, it runs 137 minutes and I suppose there is a case to be made that it could probably have been trimmed by about 20 minutes or so.  Still this is an entertaining action/drama for the most part with a very impressive central performance.