CONFESSION OF MURDER (Korea, 2012)
Directed by: Jeong Byeong-Gil
Starring: Jung Jae-Young, Park Si-Hoo

Would you believe us if we told you that this Korean serial killer movie isn’t a grimy, violent gutter-crawl into the dark recesses of the human soul but is, instead, the twisty, unstoppable, action-fueled summer blockbuster of 2013? From the director of the hit NYAFF documentary Action Boys (about the tough lives of stuntmen in the Korean movie biz), comes this thriller that’s got more twists than a snake with a broken back. Launching itself off the screen and coming at viewers like a runaway train in the first 50 seconds, this flick kicks off with lieutenant Choi (Jung Jae-Young, Castaway on the Moon) ending his investigation of a serial killer who’s murdered 10 women in a shower of broken glass, insane rootop leaps, and breathless sprints down dark alleys which climaxes with the masked killer slashing his face to shreds and getting away.

Years later, Choi’s a drunk, obsessed by the one who got away, and suddenly his world splits open when a handsome young man appears on the day the statute of limitations expires on the killings and declares that not only is he the murderer but you can read all about it in his tell-all book. Is the killer confessing? Is a wannabe craving attention? Hard to tell. But it’s not just the impressive action setpieces that keep this movie hopping (although the centerpiece car chase should get a special award for insanity). With the addition of a vigilante group made up of the victim’s families, several bloodthirsty TV producers who want ratings, and a serial killer so slick he’s surrounded by fans wherever he goes, this movie changes pace ever ten minutes. Even better, the killer is played by Park Si-Hoo, a TV star so famous that in the scenes of the killer’s fans going bananas the director simply let Park’s real-life fans on the set and filmed them.

Despite the life-or-death stakes, CONFESSION OF MURDER still smells like real life: people have to borrow cars, they get giddy over celebrities, and  live interviews with serial killers are interrupted by commercial breaks. Refusing to get bogged down in scenes of psychopathic sadism or needless suffering, CONFESSION OF MURDER is this summer’s cinematic built-for-the-beach crime thriller that sends your pulse racing as you flip the pages faster and faster, caught up in the excitement what on earth could possibly happen next.