The murder in 1987 of an university student by members of South Korea’s intelligence officers (in this case, the Anti-Communist Investigations Bureau, an institution that believed the hunt for communists justified any and all actions) sets the stage for this dramatization of how, sometimes, a terrible event such as this leads to nation-level impacts, in this case the downfall of the dictator at the time, President Chun Doo-hwan. The action on the screen is taut and, at times, frenetic, the performances impressive, and while you’ll need to concentrate on keeping track of the many characters, this film will keep you engaged. Make sure you stay for the archival footage shown with the end-of-film credits. (Subtitles.)
