Bad Guy

I like how Nam-Gi -- silent voyeur subjecting a woman to brutal misogynist violence, that he is -- is obviously a stand-in for the director, but the application of Kim's trademark perverse romanticism to Bad Guy's ending, with his victim finally embracing her role, is in this instance kind of repulsive. It has the effect of appearing to rationalize the misogyny in his work.

Most likely the worst ending that could have happened, so much as to almost invalidate the preceding ideas.

Fails to hook me at any point, which takes away the potential effect of the endless sex and violence. Nice acting and quality directing though.

Opens fairly promising: deluded protagonist, obsession turning into love, puts innocent woman through wringer, very self-aware of the director's role, voyeuristic camerawork and strange little moments interspersed with highly unpleasant, raw sexual material. The film plays like a twisted romance at points - I interpreted this as the film reflecting how our protagonist sees himself, as opposed to the truth of the matter. But in the third act it becomes a paean to unflinching misogyny. Fuck No

"Realism isn't the focal point of Bad Guy-misogynistic male power fantasies masquerading as dark, dreamlike treatises on fate and love are." - Nick Schager

You can see the director is coming into form with this one, but I think you have to skip ahead a couple years for his best works.