Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

"Revenge was never this sweet."

2002 2h 9m KO

👍

7.5

SOLID

🥫

53%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

7.5

IMDB

★7.5TMDB · 1,797🥫53%Rotten Tomatoes●59Metacritic★7.5IMDB · 80,662

ActionDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A deaf man and his girlfriend resort to desperate measures in order to fund a kidney transplant for his sister. Things go horribly wrong, and the situation spirals rapidly into a cycle of violence and revenge.

“Revenge was never this sweet.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Song Kang-ho
Dong-jin
Shin Ha-kyun
Ryu
Bae Doona
Yeong-mi
Im Ji-eun
Sister
Han Bo-bae
Yu-Sun
Lee Dae-yeon
Detective Choi
Ki Joo-bong
Engineer Peng
Kim Se-dong
CEO

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Park Chan-wook
Writers: Lee Jae-soon, Lee Jong-yong, Park Chan-wook
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 $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 49% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 24 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Park Chan-wook, shot by Kim Byeong-il. 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 Bek Hyun-jin. 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 Kim Sang-bum 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

Song Kang-ho and Shin Ha-kyun and Bae Doona carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Revenge was never this sweet.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Park Chan-wook directs. Kim Byeong-il behind the camera. Bek Hyun-jin scores. Kim Sang-bum cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in South Korea. Dialogue in Korean.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Earned back only 49% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
3Released 24 years ago.
4Directed by Park Chan-wook, shot by Kim Byeong-il. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Bek Hyun-jin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Kim Sang-bum shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Song Kang-ho and Shin Ha-kyun and Bae Doona carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Revenge was never this sweet.".
9IMDB entry: tt0310775 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 8 themes, including "factory", "kidnapping", "kidney transplant ", "revenge".
11Released under 15 different titles around the world.