Fans of the TV show, SUCCESSION, will find a lot to like in THE CHILDE, the action-packed, neo-film noir by South Korean writer-director Park Hoon-jung/박훈정 (NEW WORLD/신세계). But as devious and nasty as the Roy children are, they’ve got nothing on Han Yi-sa and his half-sister, Han Ga-young.

THE CHILDE begins in Manila where 24-year-old Marco Han (Kang Tae-joo/강태주) is boxing underground to raise enough money to pay for his mother’s life-saving surgery. Marco is a Kopino, a Korean-Filipino (a portmanteau I must admit had never heard of until I watched this film), and he’s been searching for his father in South Korea in the hopes that the man would pay for the operation. One day a lawyer arrives at his door to tell him that his father, who is a wealthy industrialist, is dying and wants to reunite with Marco before it’s too late. The lawyer convinces Marco to pack a bag and go back with him to Seoul. On the plane, a mysterious man, known as Nobleman (Kim Seon-ho/김선호, HOMETOWN CHA-CHA-CHA), tells Marco that he’s his friend. Once in Seoul, Marco is quickly ushered away by the men of Han Yi-sa (Kim Kang-woo/김강우), the industrialist’s son, and driven to the old man’s home but before they get there, Nobleman suddenly appears to thwart Yi-sa’s plan. Not trusting Nobleman, Marco escapes and calls the number on a business card he was given. A mysterious woman named Yoon-ju (Go A-ra/고아라) arrives to take Marco away but she, too, has her own agenda. It seems that everyone wants Marco dead but for different reasons and on different time schedules.

For all but the last ten minutes of the film, THE CHILDE is as slick as all the black luxury sedans Park Hoon-jung uses in the film as the viewer tries to work out everyone’s motivations. Kim Seon-ho’s performance is by far the highlight here as he deftly plays up his matinee idol looks to make Nobleman into something of an enigma. Is he a psychopathic killer or a defender of evil, or maybe he’s both? This is the strength of the story as all the antagonists have layers that slowly get peeled back. Then there’s the film’s final ten minutes where the story’s biggest twist is revealed. Instead of closing the film on a sombre note, which it deserves to have, Park takes one of Han Yi-sa’s rifles and shoots a gigantic hole in his own story, revealing an implausible premise and offering audiences an upbeat ending. Not every film needs to have a sequel, and it’s clear that Park is hoping for one here.

The director tips his hat to Tarantino a few times with a number of scenes impeccably staged and shot the way the American filmmaker would do them. Fortunately, they work and the film is all the more entertaining for them. Park does lose marks, however, with the shaky camerawork employed during the film’s climax. Some proper fight choreography would have gone a long way to take this film to the next level.

On the whole though, THE CHILDE is still fairly enjoyable with good performances all around. I just wish it had a better ending.

THE CHILDE opens in Hong Kong today (July 13th).

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