What makes a killer and what defines them as good or evil? One could argue that anyone can be a killer and that the taking of a life immediately diminishes one’s purity, but there is goodness is absorbing the malignant persons of the world. We can accept someone who only vanquishes the cruel, the greedy, the pests of this world; at least, that seems to be what filmmaker Min Kyu-dong (The Prayer) seems to suggest in The Old Woman with the Knife, their adaptation of the Gu Byeong-mo novel. After premiering during 2025 Berlin International Film Festival, The Old Woman with the Knife released in theaters May 16th, 2025, via Well Go USA. In November, The Old Woman with the Knife came available to own via physical and digital formats. Unfortunately, the edition includes no bonus features, but the film itself is rich enough to warrant the watch regardless.
Shin Sia as Nails in THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE KNIFE. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
In 1975, a generous married couple takes in a young girl. Ryu (Kim Moo-yul), one part of the couple, gives her the nickname “Nails” and trains her to be an assassin for the good of humanity. Now, known as Hornclaw (Lee Hye-young), the legendary killer struggles with maintaining her standing in her organization between shifting priorities from her boss, Sohn (Kim Kang-woo), her own struggle with a hidden degenerative illness, and the introduction of a new member of their team, the unpredictable Bullfighter (Kim Sung-cheol). When a routine job by a different team member goes sideways, a series of events begin that will test everyone, come with unexpected collateral damage, and will require Hornclaw to confront the choices of her past.
The following home release review is based on a Blu-ray retail copy provided by Well Go USA courtesy of Allied Vaughn Entertainment.
Kim Sung-cheol as Bullfighter in THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE KNIFE. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
Adapted by Director Min, Kim Dong-wan, and Byun Hye-joo (The Treacherous), the film initially sets up the audience to expect a tale of a wizened killer grappling with their life and their choices in what appears to be the end of their journey through the inclusion of Bullfighter and the language used by the agency she works for describing Hornclaw as “Godmother,” indicative of an old generation vs. new generation conflict wherein the audience observes Hornclaw as she either demonstrates her worth or fails trying. This is merely the outer layer of the film, the draw of seeing someone presumed to be the top grapple with the one enemy that can’t be defeated: time. Amid clever stunt sequences featuring a mix of stealthy and simple kills and extravagant action set pieces that will have modern U.S. audiences thinking of John Wick (an amusing bit of an ouroboros, that), there’s a quieter and propulsive character-driven narrative within told via flashbacks which often overlap within the present. More on the action momentarily, the use of the flashbacks in other tales (such as the recent Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle (2025)) can interrupt narrative momentum, causing a bit of whiplash as the energy of the film pauses to catch us up before restarting the present. Here, however, the flashbacks are presented often like intrusive thoughts with a character’s act of remembering forcing time periods to merge. A scene in which Hornclaw is running up stairs might be edited to show a moment from the past when young Hornclaw (then still Nails) also running, thereby conveying to the audience the internal discord the character’s experiencing by conflating then with now. In another, rather than a younger Hornclaw standing before us in a flashback, we may see present-Hornclaw, including her wounds and current state. It’s a beautiful way to demonstrate the internal immediacy of recognition without excess dialogue or exposition. Through this method of storytelling, not only does the audience better understand Hornclaw in the present, incredible emotional depth is added to the action on display.
L-R: Lee Hye-young as Hornclaw and Yeon Woo-jin as Dr. Kang in THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE KNIFE. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
Seeing as the protagonist is an assassin, one comes to The Old Woman with certain action-centric expectations and it delivers. We’re treated to demonstrations of clandestine kills such as a syringe and more bombastic efforts such as a confrontation of one vs. many. Regardless, cinematographer Lee Jae-woo (Maggie) ensures that the camera matches the intention of the scene. This means that we are constantly looking exactly where we’re supposed to and not necessarily where we want. To be precise, in the quieter moments, it may mean following a target rather than the assassin as what happens to the target matters most in the moment, plus it better sells the clandestine nature of the kill. In the more bombastic sequences, this means that the camera may move ahead of the action just enough to amplify the perceived momentum of the stunt with edits used to support (rather than hinder or hide) the martial arts, knife play, or gun work on screen. Camera work and edits can be used to falsify an actor’s abilities, to hide or distract from what the actor can’t do, but that doesn’t appear to be the case here. For their part, Shin (The Witch: Part 2. The Other One), Lee (The Novelist’s Film), and Sung-cheol (Hellbound) make their characters believable to the audience, whether it’s actually them doing the stunts or a stunt person, which the cinematography completely sells. The handshake that occurs between performance and cinematography only enhances the action, enabling the thrills and tension to rise while, impressively, not hanging success on just action, just performance, or just the mystery of the narrative.
L-R: Lee Hye-young as Hornclaw and Kim Sung-cheol as Bullfighter in THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE KNIFE. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
The downside to the home release is that, aside from a few 2025 Well Go USA trailers, there’re no supplemental materials at all. No “making of” featurettes, no image gallery — nothing. Even a few titles come with official marketing promos, character intros, or something to give the film a little extra oomph for a home release and the absence of them here is noticeable. At least for this reviewer. The reasoning is that the film possesses a surprising complexity in the way that it grapples with the ethics of a killer, the ways in which past actions cause today’s blood-letting, and how cutting ties doesn’t actually make one stronger. Having a chance to see how the stunts were designed would better help the audience understand the characters (for whom violence is their primary mode of communication) and listening to the cast talk about their process or response to the script would only deepen the understanding and appreciation of those efforts. That said, in a system in which physical editions aren’t a given, at least being able to possess a copy without ties to a streaming service or operator is a gift.
Lee Hye-young as Hornclaw in THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE KNIFE. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA.
Broken people do broken things, but that doesn’t mean they are absent humanity. Even with plenty of “old warrior/one last mission” stories out there, a good story will find a way to explore the human condition under terrible circumstances, often finding ways to highlight the goodness within someone. In the case of Hornclaw, it’s the persistence to not give up, to be “of use,” indifferent to age, gender, or, frankly, time. If all the film were to accomplish was an examination of a life lived in violence, it would be a fine experience, but that it seeks to go deeper, to demonstrate the ripples caused by violence and how that stunts one’s ability to see beyond the cruelty one causes and one can cause. Such a life is a limiter which convinces someone like Hornclaw that they can’t aspire to anything more, creating the sensation of a prison despite the perceived good achieved. Admittedly, the conclusion of the film doesn’t address a significant problem for Hornclaw, but it does illustrate that some lives are worth saving, even at the cost of one’s own soul.
No bonus features included in this release.
Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital November 25th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Well Go USA The Old Woman with the Knife webpage.
Final Score: 3.5 out of 5.
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Categories: Home Video, Reviews, streaming
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