For this week’s review we’re writing about the film ‘Coin Locker Girl’. If you like crime thrillers, keep on reading.
‘Coin Locker Girl’ is a 2015 film written and directed by Han Jun-hee. The film was selected for the ‘International Critics’ Week’ for the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. Han won the Baeksang for Best New Film Director for this movie as well. It’s safe to say that it won quite a few eyes when it came out.
Plot
‘Coin Locker Girl’ tells the story of Il-Young portrayed by Kim Go-Eun. She was abandoned just after she was born and left in a locker at a subway station. A beggar finds her and raises her until she’s about ten when she’s abducted by a corrupt detective.
He sells her to a woman who goes by the name Mother, played by Kim Hye-Soo (who you might know from ‘Signal‘) who uses her in her gang. Mother runs a rather lucrative loan shark and organ trafficking ring. She’s calculating and doesn’t hesitate to show how tough she is.
We see Il-Young grow up and learn how to do her part in the collection of the loans. She takes after her Mother until she meets Suk-hyun, played by Park Bo-Gum. She starts to feel bad for him and even nurtures somewhat of a crush. Of course things were bound to go sideways.
Verdict
The story of ‘Coin Locker Girl’ is an interesting look at a matriarchal crime organisation. It also takes a closer look at loyalty when you don’t have blood connections. Il-Young has siblings, other kids that Mother raised, who all do their own part.
The fact that Il-Young would put everything at risk for a boy she’s met only a couple of times seems silly at first. During the final confrontation between Mother and Il-Young, even Mother asks if the boy was worth it. Il-Young doesn’t seem to have an answer for it.
Though if you look at how she grew up and the fact that she’s always had to be prepared for the worst, or for betrayals, it makes a bit more sense. Suk-hyun was kind and naive. Something that Il-Young has never really been. I think it had more to do with that rather than a love at first sight scenario. Maybe she saw something in him that she felt she never had.
I would definitely recommend watching ‘Coin Locker Girl’. It’s a thrilling ride and will definitely have you sit at the edge of your seat. It’s an interesting story of a makeshift family and the concept of loyalty. The performances were out of this world.
Take a look at the trailer:
