The authors of the Korean crime-drama film “The Real Criminal”, shot in the best traditions of the action-packed thriller, are trying to literally spin an even-handed plot, where the mystery is literally at every step. The main story unfolds in an apartment where the protagonist tries to solve the murder of his wife, using all kinds of police methods including investigative experiments, interrogation and surveillance. But in addition to apartment actions in the film there is a large number of flashbacks and parallel storylines from different time planes. And everything would be fine, but in the first half the story is frankly oversaturated with long-suffering retreats of the main characters, from whom you get tired by the middle of the film. The so-called drama in the drama, instead of enhancing the emotionally vivid audience empathy, turns into a tedious narrative, although the detective line itself is executed at a high level. The audience, along with the hero, will find the real criminal, using clues from different flashbacks, as if one large puzzle should be collected from several small ones. There will be many details and details to form the overall picture of the tragedy. But at the same time, there are no heroes in the film as such, because the authors, immersed in the detective, completely forgot about their characters. There are men and women, but who is who by nature is not completely clear. Although there is a possibility that the writers initially made the images of the characters neutral-blurred, to the last minute not to give a chance for the slightest guess about the identity of the killer. If this is the case, then this option, although good, but risky, as to sacrifice heroes in the name of the main intrigue will be appreciated, unfortunately, not all, considering what they saw as an ordinary script flaw.
But in the end, the weakest thing in this picture is not even the lack of content of the characters, namely the production, which, with all the desire, does not reach a large spectacular film work of category A. Sometimes it seems that the film even more like a television production than a rental movie, which is even more disappointing when watching. And yet, despite certain claims, the detective line deserves attention, as it is written in the film very well and with all the peculiarities of the mysterious narrative. In general, ardent fans of Korean cinema and complex detectives should watch, and everyone else can miss, without worrying about the missed opportunity to see a steeply intertwined plot. But anyway, the choice is yours. Have a good time.