We’re back with a new movie review and this time we checked out the 2024 film ‘Dead Man’.
‘Dead Man’ starts with an instantly intriguing premise—one that feels ripped straight out of a political thriller K-drama. Lee Man-Jae (Cho Jin-woong) survives by lending his name to shady businesses as a legal figurehead, never asking too many questions. It’s easy money, until one deal spirals completely out of control and he’s suddenly framed for embezzling a jaw-dropping 100 billion won. Overnight, he’s declared dead in South Korea and secretly thrown into a Chinese prison, erased from existence.
Things get interesting when Mrs. Shim (Kim Hee-ae), a sharp and powerful political consultant, steps in. With her help, Man-Jae makes it back to Korea and sets out to uncover who destroyed his life and turned him into a literal “dead man.” Along the way, he crosses paths with Gong Hee-Joo (Lee Soo-kyung), who is chasing her own truth after her father’s murder, and their shared search for justice gives the story some emotional grounding.
On paper, this should’ve been a knockout. The cast alone is insanely stacked—Cho Jin-woong is reliably solid, Kim Hee-ae commands every scene she’s in, and the supporting lineup is packed with familiar, talented faces. There are definitely moments where the tension clicks, and the political scheming and identity-erasure angle is genuinely compelling.
Unfortunately, the movie struggles with pacing. What starts off sharp and mysterious gradually drags, and the narrative loses momentum when it should be tightening the screws. Some plot threads feel underdeveloped, while others linger too long, making the overall experience feel heavier than it needs to be. By the time everything wraps up, it feels like the film never quite reaches the impact its premise promises.
That said, ‘Dead Man’ isn’t a total miss. It has strong performances, an interesting concept, and flashes of a much better movie buried inside it. If nothing else, it’s worth a watch for the cast and the idea—but it definitely feels like a story that could’ve hit harder with a tighter script or even a longer, episodic format.
