Writer/director Park Hoon-jung is not one to shy away from the darkness that exists within humanity (I Saw the Devil) or a hidden world within it (the Witch series). Whether in the bright of day or the shadows of night, danger lurks everywhere and can often come wearing the face of a friend. This is no different in Park’s latest project, The Childe (귀공자), wherein we follow a nameless figure as he stalks a young man in hopes of a long-awaiting familial reunion, bringing little more than mayhem with him. Sprinkled with humor and stunts galore, audiences looking for an action thriller will delight in Park’s latest, all while on the edge of their seat, unprepared for the surprises about to unfold before us.
Kang Tae-ju as Marco Han in THE CHILDE. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
Growing up in the Philippines as a Filipino-Korean, Marco Han (Kang Tae-ju) has always wondered who his father was, and never so desperately as his mother lay sick and in need of surgery. With his underground boxing matches not bringing in enough to cover it, fear turns to desperation, but then fortune strikes and his father, Chairman Han (Choi Jung-woo), makes contact, sending representatives to bring Marco to Korea to meet. During the journey from the Philippines to Chairman Han’s, Marco finds himself embroiled in multiple life-or-death situations and they all involve an enigmatic and dangerous man who only identifies himself as a friend (Kim Seon-ho).
Kim Seon-ho as The Childe in THE CHILDE. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
There’s a strange and, ultimately, reductive assumption by some audiences that entertainment shouldn’t be political. No, your entertainment doesn’t *have* to be political, but it’s going to be whether you notice it or explore it. The Amazon Studios darling Reacher looks like it’s a copaganda program from the outside (loner former military lives a quiet life living a hobo’s life and then busts heads when solving crimes), except he uses his brains and strength to fight for people who can’t fight for themselves, working alongside individuals who want to help others and reduce harm. Marvel and DC films are inherently political as their central figures are either examples of the ultimate scapegoat (mutants), literal gods, or the ideal “man” who uses his enhanced abilities to lead with compassion, not his fists (Superman). You think the songs you listen to aren’t political? At some point, country music flipped from pro-moonshine and anti-cop. Rock band Rage Against the Machine? What did you think the machine was, folks? The point, is that Park infuses the entirety of The Childe with socio-political aspects in order to set up and execute the narrative. Much like the Japanese have a history of looking down on Koreans, going so far as to create the term “zainichi” to describe some of Korean decent living in Japan whether by force or choice, whether purely Korean or a mix of Japanese, there is “kopino” to describe someone of Korean-Filipino decent. The first term is one which implies a class order, while the second appears more like “afro-latino,” a means of expressing the duality of a person’s ethnicity. Within the world of The Childe, though, Park uses the term as a pejorative, a shorthand to convey the way the men of Korean view the women of the Philippines and how any offspring of such a meeting are considered less than their Korean counterparts. Kang plays Marco as someone who isn’t fully invested in his Korean side, forced to learn both Korean and English by his mother, an assumption being that she wanted him prepared to join his father, yet yearns to know about that part of himself he doesn’t have any connection to. Park making Marco a boxer allows us to believe in his ability to survive what comes for him, but it also communicates about what Marco *doesn’t* have as he relies on his physical abilities to care for himself and his ailing mother. If his father cared at all for his offspring, if society supported kapinos, would Marco still be a fighter? While that’s not necessarily important to the larger questions Marco faces, it’s just the beginning of the perspective differences that separate Marco from the family he’s so longed for: his half-brother Director Han (Kim Kang-woo) and half-sister Ga-young (Jung Lael).
Park being Park and the fact that his stories are often layered, it’s worth noting that the film opens with nameless man who only calls himself “a friend” and is listed as The Childe at work. It’s violent and very abrupt, conveying his talent and skill at assassination. It’s tension-filled, but most of that comes from The Childe’s lack of predictability — is he going to be the cold killer who takes you out without a word or is he going to unveil a deep grin with a wide-eyed stare as he looks into your eyes or is he going to whine and complain that you got blood on him, losing all professionalism and stature in the moment? The audience sees this before meeting Marco, a smart move as it sets up the violence to come and the danger that The Childe presents, while also making the first meeting between The Childe and Marco even more unsettling. We move from “who is he?” to “what does he want?” with a quickness only rivaled by The Childe’s own speed and technique. It also makes the interactions between the pair thrilling as we don’t know what The Childe wants with Marco, the repeated chasing down often feeling like a cat playing with a mouse before the final strike. Thus, The Childe is also full of darkly comic moments as we can’t help but be taken by The Childe, a charm and talent for physical and vocal delivery pulling us in, all of which is due to Seon-ho’s performance.
Top-Bottom: Kang Tae-ju as Marco Han and Kim Seon-ho as The Childe in THE CHILDE. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
Considering how Park likes to build his worlds, it’s a real shame that there’re no bonus materials accompanying this release. Especially because of the bridge portion of the foot chase between The Childe and Marco, I have some *deep* suspicions about these characters and their mysterious origins, things that would dovetail nicely into the world of Park’s other creation, The Witch series, except there’s nothing included here that offers any kind of indication of narrative creation or on-set execution. The only thing included is a single trailer for the film and three previews for Well Go USA releases. At least the on-disc presentation for the Blu-ray is solid with a great looking 1080p video presentation and immersive DTS HDMA 5.1 audiotrack. The audio really becomes something special when either bullets are flying or rain is falling, really getting the sense of being in the midst of something dropping all around you.
Kim Kang-woo as Director Han in THE CHILDE. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
Now, I have my theories about The Childe and have mostly kept them to myself as this is a first-time review and there are no bonus features included by which identifying greater details would be beneficial in the exploration of said materials. Instead, I’m left to hold these to myself, except to say two things: stay through the initial credits and I wish there was a connection to the world of The Witch. There’s something that happens in this film that doesn’t make a lot of sense, even in the framework provided to us, but could be explained if there was a prior-existing relationship between The Childe and, say, Koo Ja-yoon (Kim Da-mi) of 2018’s The Witch: Part 1 – The Subversion. Maybe we’ll get lucky and Park will opt to set another story in this new world and, if he does, a direct connection can be drawn and even more exceptional thrills can be found. Or maybe this is just wishful thinking given the strength of the direction, the narrative, and casting. Who wouldn’t want more from a world that feels so fully realized and engaging?
The Childe Special Features:
- The Childe Trailer
- Three (3) Well Go USA Preview Trailers
Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital January 16th, 2023.
For more information, head to the official Well Go USA The Childe webpage.
Final Score: 4 out of 5.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming
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