'A Shop For Killers' Review: This Lee Dong-wook drama must not be missed

‘A Shop For Killers’ Review: This Lee Dong-wook drama must not be missed

A Lee Dong-wook drama with action and lots of thrills is already a hit on paper. Director-screenwriter Lee Kwon adds a refreshing flavour to this adapted action-thriller with its edgy and crafty execution. It stars Dong-wook and Kim Hye-joon in the lead roles. Often, this question is asked about thrillers — Did it give you the adrenaline rush you expected? In the case of this K-drama, the answer is a resounding yes!

A young Jeong Jian [Hye-joon] learns about her uncle Jeong Jinman’s [Dong-wook] alleged suicide when she is attacked by people she had never met. Soon, Jian begins to wonder if she ever really knew her uncle well, and the mystery slowly unravels. Meeting new people, discovering new roles and having to take over her uncle’s unique and mysterious shopping mall business, Jian has a tall order to meet. After all, Jinman was quite an enigmatic personality.

Pinned down in her uncle’s home, which is no less than a fortress, Jian learns the tricks of survival with the story moving back and forth, giving a glimpse of her ‘love-hate’ equation with her uncle. Through Jian, you get to know about Jinman, who is more or less a relative prototype. Doesn’t speak much, is aloof, but is extremely protective. Jian doesn’t understand him, while Jinman struggles to find ways to communicate effectively with his young niece, who entered his life unannounced.

The push-and-pull chemistry between Dong-wook and Hye-joon [Jinman and Jian] is the biggest highlight of ‘A Shop For Killers’. They have a great on-screen bond which really makes them an uncle-and-niece pairing you root for. You grow to like them and their banter. ‘Listen up, Jian’ is music to your ears, a few episodes in.

The show starts off feeling a little slow, but after two episodes, it really picks up the pace. Through Jian, you explore the very complicated ‘shopping mall’ for killers, and just the scale of production will really blow your mind. The use of technology, high power-mechanism, the maze-like unravelling of the location is brilliant. The show is one of the best examples of how location can be used effectively to create a thrill within the narrative. It feels like you are a part of a game with passive participation.

The action choreography is superbly performed, and it is nice to see Hye-joon getting a fair share of action to perform. You also have Park Ji-bin, Geum Hae-na, Seo Hyun-Woo and Jo Han-sun playing supportive parts, which are superbly done. The nuanced layers of unravelling their stake in this entire narrative is done creatively, which makes the show quite binge-able.

Dong-wook has a charismatic and effortless presence onscreen. He really breezes through Jinman, while Hye-joon plays Jian with  conviction.

The series is easily one of the best watches of the year, at least for now. It has action, complex relationships, mystery and thrill that makes it a wholesome package. A must-watch for those who love the genre.

‘A Shop For Killers’ has 8 episodes and is available to stream on Disney + Hotstar.

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