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The Villagers
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Wikipedia article
'The Villagers' is a 2018 South Korean action thriller film directed by Im Jin-sun, starring Ma Dong-seok and Kim Sae-ron. It was released on November 7, 2018.
Plot
'The Villagers' revolve around Gi-cheol, a former boxing champion who is appointed as a PE teacher at an all girlss high school in a small village where a student named Han Soo-Yeon had recently gone missing. The girls disappearance is largely a mystery, but Gi-cheol feels strange things about the town after his arrival as all the villagers seem uptight and highly agitated. After he gets acquainted with one student, Yoo-jin, when he finds her skipping out on class at afternoon to go look for Soo-Yeon, who is her best friend, Gi-cheol realizes that Yoo-jin is actually the only person in the entire town, who seems to care about finding the missing school girl and finds that many girls are missing in the village with the police not caring about the case. Gi-cheol writes a letter 'Power to search' warrant to begin the investigation with his friend Inspector Dong-soo, He also finds cameras in the girl's toilet when he finds some girls were smoking tobacco at the toilet and finds the art teacher Ji-Sung was actually Soo-Yeon's kidnapper after he check his text messages between him and Soo-Yeon and also finds that Ji-Sung is about to meet Yoo-jin, who rushes to save her.
Yoo-jin (after Gi-cheol had told her about Ji-Sung's involvement in Yoo-Seon's kidnapping) questions Ji-Sung about his involvement in Soo-Yeon's kidnapping, to which he knocks her unconscious and takes her to his house. Gi-cheol receives Ji-Sung's address from Yoo-jin and arrives at the house, where he knocks and interrogates him. Ji-Sung explains that Soo-Yeon had called him to pick her up and Soo-Yeon told Ji-Sung to leave her at a petrol bunk as someone will arrive to pick her up. Ji-Sung drops her and leaves, but feels uneasy for having left her alone and finds her disappeared, only for him to find her cell-phone. After the confession, Yoo-jin calls the police and Ji-Sung is held into custody. The police chief is revealed to be in cahoots with the kidnapper. Later, Gi-cheol receives a call from Dong-Soo, who reveals that they found Soo-Yeon's corpse, which leaves Yoo-jin devastated. The Police Chief finds Dong-soo's involvement in case investigation and calls the kidnapper. Dong-Soo checks Soo-Yeon's phone and finds her chat conversation with Lee Seul, who is the madam of a club named 'So-Soo' which he reports to Gi-cheol and is knocked unconscious by someone.
Gi-cheol leaves for So-Soo club to meet Lee Seul, who reveals that Soo-Yeon was a part time singer at the club where she was misbehaved by the club's bar owner, who attacks him and escapes. Later, Gi-cheol interrogates Gwak-Sajang, who is the owner of the club after he defeats his henchmen. Sajang reveals that Ji-Sung was the one who killed Soo-Yeon as Ji-Sung had loved Soo-Yeon, but had rejected her advances and also Ji-Sung is actually a politician Ki-Tae's son. Gi-cheol reports it to Dong-Soo, who learns that Ji-Sung is released and deduce that Yoo-jin is also in danger. Ji-Sung kidnaps Yoo-jin and takes her to another location where he hides her in a closet. Ki-Tae arrives and tells Ji-Sung to leave for US. Ji-Sung reveals that Ki-Tae himself was actually Soo-Yeon's killer. Ki-Tae had chocked Soo-Yeon to death to save his political career and reputation due to Ji-Sung's antics. Later, Yoo-jin tries to escape from Ji-Sung and is severely wounded before Gi-cheol reaches the hideout and knocks him where he learns Ki-tae's true colors. Gi-cheol admits Yu-jin to the hospital and Ki-tae wins the election and is elected as the Governor. Furious, Gi-cheol attacks Ki-Tae's convey at night. With Dong-Soo's help, Gi-cheol reveals Ki-Tae and the police chief's involvement in Soo-Yeon's murder to the media where Ki-Tae and the police chief are stripped of their respective positions and are arrested. Gi-cheol visits Yu-jin at the hospital, who thanks him for solving her friend's disappearance. Gi-cheol leaves for another village to start a new life
Cast
*Ma Dong-seok as Yeok Gi-cheol
*Kim Sae-ron as Kang Yoo-jin
*Lee Sang-yeob as Ji Sung
*Jang Gwang as Ki-tae
*Oh Hee-joon as Dong-soo
*Jin Seon-kyu as Byung-doo
*Shin Se-hwi as Han Soo-yeon
Production
Filming began July 21, 2017 and finished September 30, 2017.
Release
The film was released on November 7, 2018, alongside 'Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween', 'Ode to the Goose' (November 8), and 'The Wrath' (November 8).
Reception
Yoon Min-sik from 'The Korea Herald' gave a mixed review and wrote, "'The Villagers' has an interesting premise, a promising set-up, good acting and a strong first act -- but maybe not enough thrill, and bit of a letdown in the third act."
References
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