Coin Locker Girl (2015)

A new born girl is placed in a coin operated locker in the subway station. The girl is raised by a mother who is the boss for a loan shark group. Later, when the girl has grown into a teen, she carries out missions given to her by her mother.

It’s not quite up to the standard of some of the more action packed Korean thrillers out there, but in terms of a slow-burning crime story with unexpected twists and turns, it has those aspects aplenty. It is well acted, the cinematography is sleek and stylish, and it has all you could want from this genre. What separates it from the norm, is it’s ability to splice it with a romantic undertone. Quite unexpected, but a welcome change given that these are usually quite cold films. However, do not let that deter you, this still contains those typical cold and unforgiving themes you expect from this type of film – it just makes it worse when they arrive.

The end result is something quite horrifying. The vicious unpredictability that our protagonist finds herself a part of is one that the viewers will have to endure with her, and it’s exhausting. Emotionally and mentally strenuous, I struggle to recall another South Korean film that dealt such devastating blow after blow in the manner of which this film does. Expertly gliding across multiple genres, in what is quite a rarity, Coin Locker Girl is a South Korean film that speaks to more than one subset of fans.