The Villainess

"An endless vengeance begins."

2017 2h 9m KO

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 803

ActionThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Honed from childhood into a merciless killing machine by a criminal organization, assassin Sook-hee is recruited with the promise of freedom after ten years of service. However, secrets from her past destroy everything she’s worked for and now she embarks on a roaring rampage of revenge.

“An endless vengeance begins.”

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Cast

Kim Ok-vin
Sook-hee
Shin Ha-kyun
Joong-sang
Sung Joon
Hyun-soo
Kim Seo-hyung
Kwon-sook
Cho Eun-ji
Kim Sun
Lee Seung-joo
Choon-mo
Jung Hae-kyun
Jang Chun
Park Cheol-min
Sook-hee's Father

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jung Byung-gil
Writers: Jung Byung-gil, Jung Byeong-sik
Languages: Korean
Countries: South Korea

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $9M — a 69.9× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 9 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jung Byung-gil, shot by Park Jung-hun. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Koo Ja-wan. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Heo Sun-mi shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Kim Ok-vin and Shin Ha-kyun and Sung Joon carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "An endless vengeance begins.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jung Byung-gil directs. Park Jung-hun behind the camera. Koo Ja-wan scores. Heo Sun-mi cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in South Korea. Dialogue in Korean.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $9M — a 69.9× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
3Released 9 years ago.
4Directed by Jung Byung-gil, shot by Park Jung-hun. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Koo Ja-wan. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Heo Sun-mi shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Kim Ok-vin and Shin Ha-kyun and Sung Joon carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "An endless vengeance begins.".
9IMDB entry: tt6777338 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 9 themes, including "assassin", "katana", "revenge", "one man army".

The technical file

Cinematography: Park Jung-hun
Original score: Koo Ja-wan
Editing: Heo Sun-mi
Production design: Kim Hee-jin
Costume design: Chae Kyung-hwa
Makeup / hair: Cho Tae-hee
Runtime: 129 min · 2h 9m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $125,000
Box office: $8,737,458
Return: 6990% of budget
Original language: KO
Certification (US): R 18+
IMDB: The Villainess (2017)

Also by

Jung Byung-gil

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What people are saying

40w20002017-12-25
★ 1/10
Wow. I've seen a lot of bad movies but none actually make me angry while I'm watching them. This one did. The plot is ridiculous. The whole movie is based around events taking place for no reason at all. It was basically 'The Assassin' rewritten by someone while they were having a stroke. The action scenes couldn't save this from being the one of the worst films I've ever seen and definitely the worst movie I've seen in 2017. Avoid.

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