South Korean action film about a virtuoso assassin. Min Kyu-dong’s adaptation of a best-selling novel premiered at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival.
Sixty-year-old Hornclaw is a legend in the world of assassins. But her health is failing, and the organization she has always worked for, killing the «vermin» of society, is becoming increasingly interested in money over justice. Her new colleague—a ruthless young assassin known as Bullfight—has secret reasons for joining the organization. He is after Hornclaw, and she needs to understand his reasons in order to survive.
The Old Woman with the Knife is set in a John Wick-style criminal world, only its tired master assassin is a woman, played by Lee Hye-young, who regularly appears in Hong Sang-soo’s later films, such as A Traveler’s Needs and The Novelist’s Film. The film’s original title, Pagwa, means «bruised fruit.» Apart from the action, which is typical of the genre, the film focuses on the ailing, failing body of the protagonist and the social expectations of a senior woman who has become an outsider due to her age, loneliness, and occupation.
The film will be screened in Korean with Russian subtitles.
«The Old Woman with the Knife»
Director: Min Kyu-dong
South Korea, 2025. 124 min.
18+