Hwa Yi is a young boy who’s been kidnapped as a kid by a group of five gangsters. The gang takes in the boy as their son and raises him into a criminal.
A contract to kill off a whole family has been signed, however, once it’s up to Hwa Yi to take the enterprise he starts messing up, being of course so different from his five parents.
The youngster’s difference doesn’t hold the righteous nature alone; Hwa Yi sees something grotesque that impedes him to take cruel actions. It also may manifest when he is left unaccompanied…

Directed by Jang Joon-hwan, Hwayi: A Monster Boy (2013) is really ruthless and brutal. Be ware of violent scenes as some may result quite disturbing and direct.
The main lead Yeo Jin Goo was 16 year old only when carrying out the role of Hwa Yi. It’s quite noteworthy in my opinion as he played the part really well and the fight scenes are striking.

At the second half of the movie, though, it takes a turn to a typical revenge-themed Korean film. If you watched I Saw the Devil you know where I’m coming from. Hands up, it is properly made as a thriller and full of action, but I didn’t expect that kind of dramatic plot-shifting.
The main subject of this movie I’d say is the boy’s transfiguration from an innocent kid to a fearless killer, comparable to a monster, as the title suggests.

I found the second part a bit slow pacing and the film’s events made me a tad testy. Which is also the purpose of the movie, so don’t watch it if you tend to get triggered over seeing lots of emotionally unfair and violent scenes.

Recommended to an observant public and splatter lovers.

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The Handmaiden is a movie directed by Park Chan-wook, set in period of Japanese occupation in Korea.

Plot:
A maid named Sook Hee is hired as handmaiden in an isolated estate for a Japanese heiress called Hideko. The Lady lives secluded in the estate away from the society since she was a child in company of her autocratic uncle Kouzuki.

Under the maid's veiling Sook Hee keeps inside a dark secret: she's a young crook who's been enrolled by a conman posing as a Japanese count, Fujiwara.
His plan is to steal away the heart of the young Lady, and, after robbing her of her property, lock her up in a mental hospital.

One night, curious about the charismatic Count Fujiwara, Hideko decides to ask to her maid what is it the men do search in women after marriage.
Sook Hee is reluctant but after more insistence decides to show her what passion is about, given her Lady is practically a child who didn't have the occasion to learn about said things.

Personal thoughts:
The story is really well written and combines dark setting with erotic romance with some luminous scenes framing lots of greenery and vivid panoramas.
The ambience is mostly gloomy and presents some outright scenes such as violence, torture, nudity and BDSM. (Not recommended for family watching nor for minors!)
All the main leads are interesting and well-described, in fact, the first part of the movie is dedicated to Sook Hee's point of view, second part is about Hideko's past and outlooks and the third part is an epilogue for everyone.
The three parts are made in a way to complement each other bit by bit, replenishing the empty spaces in the story.
Presents some interesting plot twists and I recommend it to psychological & mature drama enthusiasts.

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An adaptation of Haruki Murakami's short story "Barn Burning".

Plot:
Jong Su is out for a delivery for his part-time work when he runs into Hae Mi, a girl who used to live in his neighborhood as a child.
After talking for a while, seems like the girl remembers more about him than Jong Su remembers about her. He called her "ugly" once, she says, and that was the only time he talked to her.
In fact, one of the reasons he didn't recognize her immediately is the fact that she had plastic surgery to improve her looks.

Later, Hae Mi decides to ask Jong Su to look after her cat, as she is about to go on a trip to Africa. The cat is really shy she says, in front of guests; so it tends to hide.
Jong Su accepts, even though he's still unsure if there's any cat to begin with, as he never saw him. That doesn't stop him from going to her place in order to leave the food for the kitty.

When Hae Mi comes back, she suddenly introduces him a mysterious young man called Ben.

Something about him appears to be off after a while of hanging out all three together. Ben seems to be a rich guy, yet his whereabouts are unclear and he provides no concrete information about his occupation.

In one of those occasions, while visiting Jong Su, Ben decides to confess his own unusual hobby.

Personal thoughts:
This movie presents three interesting, yet so different from each other main leads; Jong Su, Hae Mi and Ben.
Slow pacing, yet not dull or boring at all. Recommended if you like to think while enjoying the vision. Not recommended if you prefer 1h 30' ~ long movies.

I'd like to add that this movie presents mature content such as nudity and sex scenes, so it's most recommended to adults.

The plot hooks perfectly the three characters' personalities, despite being so unique.
You can study properly the environment of Jong Su, his affection towards Hae Mi (et viceversa) and familiar problems.
Understand bit by bit Ben's intentions behind his facial expressions and, obviously, ask yourself lots of questions. Still, at the end of the movie you most likely won't need any answers.

Some interesting metaphors are placed here and there, which makes this movie even more interesting and enjoyable.

Have fun!

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Hot Gimmick: Girl Meets Boy (2019) is adapted from the manga series “Hot Gimmick” by Miki Aihara.

When Hatsumi gives a pregnancy test to her sister Akane who is being late on her period she gets caught by her neighbor Ryoki. Ryoki Tachibana decides to make a deal with Hatsumi; he’ll keep the whole matter a secret in exchange of the girl becoming his personal slave.

Azusa, Hatsumi’s childhood friend who used to live in the same building, suddenly returns to his old apartment to live with his father. Spotting Hatsumi’s problem with Tachibana he takes her side to safeguard her.

“For the first time in my life, I’ve become stupid.” Well, that’s my line after watching this movie. Why?

Let’s start from the characters.

Hatsumi is presented as an irritatingly slow protagonist, typical of romance-themed Jmovies, who lets Tachibana to freely blackmail her.

Tachibana appears to be a rude narcissist who used to bully Hatsumi as a kid and uses insults and mean ways to state what he thinks about the girl. The approach is wrong but the given message is not. She has no personality of her own and lets to be deceived by other people’s behaviors, ending up running in circles in search of herself.

Didn’t like the acting of the two guys, it results too forced and flimsy, typical of romance-themed Jmovies. #2
Their parts are carried through in a way too dramatic way.

Visually pleasing film, still found quite difficult following properly at some points as the scenes got constant zooming in, creating a trailer-like effect.
The plot overall was quite intricate creating a bit of confusion and leaving me with the following question: “What was the story again?“.

Can’t say I got bored while watching this, still not recommending it due to previously listed points that bothered me too much. Again, I didn’t expect too much from this movie having discovered it through Netflix.

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