Having become an international star from Squid Game as well as already an established actor in film and TV, Lee Jung-jae marks his directorial debut with this slick, fast paced, spy thriller.
Set in 1983, four years after the real-life assassination of South Korean president Park Chang-hee by the head of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA), who was later caught and executed. Following on from these events, Lee plays Park Pyong-ho, head of the KCIA foreign unit. While protecting the president who is attending a summit in Washington, an assassination attempt is made, Park tries to capture the gunman but finds himself losing control of the situation to KCIA domestic head Kim Jung-do (Jung Woo-sung), who is out of his own jurisdiction and should have no say in the situation yet tries to gain the upper hand by killing the would-be assassin.
The two agents then find themselves reluctantly having to work together to foil a complex conspiracy and learn that things are not as they seem. As the two agents become closer to uncovering the truth, they learn that there is only a thin line between loyalty, trust and betrayal.
As the title suggests Hunt cuts straight to the chase. Even in the opening scene it is only a matter of minutes before there is a high-stakes shoot-out. As a political thriller, its a roller-coaster full of twists and turns at every corner. As I went into this film with very little historical knowledge of South Korean Politics, it was not clear to me what the motives of the main characters. However, with a running time of 125 minutes, Hunt delivers without turning into a slow-burn drama. There are flaws and at certain points of the film I was unsure who I should be routing for, but for Lee Jung-jae this is a great achievement to have under his belt as director and lead actor and I am looking forward to seeing more of his work behind the camera.
As the opening film at the London East Asian Film Festival, Lee was present to introduce and the film during the Opening Gala Ceremony and take part in a Q&A after the screening. Lee said how he felt the translation in one of the scenes was not as accurate as he had intended it to be. Lee also explained how 50% of the film is based on actual events that took place in South Korea while the other 50% is fiction.
