No Mercy (2019)

Again another example of K-fandom rating anything that doesn't appeal to their fangirl midnight fantasies, being rated below 8 or even lower than 5, when pure visual nonsense like Hwarang gets a plethora of 10/10s.

Yes this is a seriously dark movie, and at times it had me feeling nauseated and extremely infuriated. But was any of that towards the script, author or the industry? No, for once it was out of empathy. This was absolutely horrible, and that's what it was trying to deliver, the worst parts of society. It was extremely immersive and acting was just so convincing that at the end, I had almost forgotten this wasn't a work of fiction. The blood effects and other props were on point as well.

This movie absolutely killed me inside, to project yourself into the protagonist or just empathize with her was a purely painful experience -- but it felt so very real and that's what mattered. The rape scenes weren't excessive, and I liked that, in the sense that the development team wasn't trying to capitalize on cheap semi-nude shots like almost every movie similar to this -- which usually just feels like insult to injury.

I honestly cannot think of a better actress for the role, the subtle displays of dismay, suffering and unconditional love from her.

Cinematography was on point as well but at times it felt inconsistent, although the overall quality was still good. Fight scenes had room for improvement, and South Korea's attitude towards weapons had this movie switching between conventional and unconventional weaponry and fight scenes.

The music was absolutely perfect, resonated very well with the highs and lows of the movie and delivered heartbreaking moments very well.

You're not going to feel happy watching this and you're not supposed to. Don't blame the movie for how you feel, but blame yourself for not knowing what to expect.

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Please don't watch this film if you are triggered by rape.

Halfway through this movie, I got so disgusted and almost couldn't finish it. I tried to watch to the end hoping the ending would finally make the movie mean something, but it didn't. There was just no point in this film. It's like we got Lee Shi Young is a badass action actor. (check) Men are trash narrative (check) Violence (check) a ridiculous outfit for the female lead (check) Skirt shots (check check check) This movie tried to disguise itself as some sort of badass empowering film (from the pictures at least) but it doesn't achieve any of that in my opinion.

The film is basically about a young mentally challenged girl has been sexually assaulted not once but 6 times by six different men. And the message ended up being about sisterhood and violent revenge? Like I felt like the movie was just using the female characters instead of actually telling a meaningful story about them. I'm always excited to see Lee Shi Young in action roles but this movie was a mess with no true plot and just gross. I'm all here for revenge plots but they weren't even satisfying revenge scenarios. If I wanted to watch stories about sex offenders who don't get any real justice then I'd stick to watching the news. Yes, the movie provides us with a type of violent revenge. But what does that do for the victim? What does a couple of lost fingers and bruised faces do for all her pain? Those men still got to live. And even if they didn't the movie doesn't give you any type of closure after all of this.

The movie was just sad, disgusting and left a bad taste in my mouth. I don't recommend it at all.

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