Kill Boksoon

As demonstrated by the omnipresent Netflix logo kicking things off, South Korean action spectacle Kill Boksoon comes to Berlinale with a streaming distribution deal already locked down, equalling guaranteed eyeballs. And those eyeballs will certainly appreciate what they see.

Gil Boksoon (a dynamic performance from Jeon Do-yeon) is known at work as Kill Boksoon. As far as her 15-year-old daughter, Jae-young (Kim Si-A), knows, Boksoon works for an event planning company. This is true, in a manner of speaking, because the events being planned are deaths. Despite her prowess as an assassin, Boksoon decides to retire to spend more time with her daughter. Walking away from this career (or limping away while bleeding) isn’t always so straightforward, as the protagonist learns when something goes amiss during her last gig.

The mashup of Boksoon’s drive as an efficient killer and the domestic difficulties of mothering a mouthy teen can feel burdensome at times. One has a sense of wanting the story to pick a lane and stick with it, instead of trying to marry these two at-odds scenarios. The contrast is eventually nicely absorbed to the point that Netflix could have an enjoyable franchise on their hands: The Continuing Adventures of Boksoon and Associates, perhaps.

Audiences are likely to feel well-acquainted with several key parts of the film. For starters, the imaginary corporate structures, processes and rules of organisations that arrange assassinations have been covered before, in everything from the John Wick series to Killing Eve. Kill Boksoon doesn’t bring anything new to the table, and arguably dwells on this aspect a little too much (a good ten minutes of footage could easily have been extracted during editing). 

Director Byun Sung-hyun has crafted a seductive world for his characters – the sort of place where assassins can have a knife fight (or an axe vs sword fight to be accurate) on a disused bridge without anyone batting an eyelid. The action sequences dazzle without trying too hard, and the violence is depicted with fetishised beauty and creativity (plus some unrestrained CGI blood splatter). This story of a woman trying to achieve a work/life balance under very difficult circumstances is quite a lot of fun.

Oliver Johnston

Kill Boksoon is released on Netflix on 31^st March 2023.

Read our interview with writer-director Byun Sung-hyun and star Jeon Do-yeon here.

Read more reviews from our Berlin Film Festival 2023 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Berlin Film Festival website here.

Watch the trailer for Kill Boksoon here: