Hwayi is a boy who lives on small
farm in a small village. From the outside
Hwayi might seem like every other teenager but he is not. Unlike most families
Hwayi has been raised by five fathers
who are infamous criminals. There is
the cold-hearted leader; Suk-tae, the
stuttering Ki-tae, the thinker Jin-sun,
the action man Dong-beom and the
firearms expert Beom-soo. Each bring
their own specialities to the table and
Hwayi is taught all of these. One day the
group accepts a contract to kill a man
named Lim and his wife. The group
of assassins feel as if something is not
right about this assignment but Suk-tae
is adamant to fulfil the contract and to
bring Hwayi on the mission. Nervous
Hwayi enters the victims house and is
forced to kill his target, but he discovers a photography of a boy that looks
incredibly familiar. This revelation will
change everything forever.

“He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become 2014
a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” These words from Friedrich Nietzsche gives the audience a complete understanding of what to expect of Hwayi. This action and emotionally packed film sees the long awaited return of filmmaker Jang Joon-hwan. The director debuted with the cult and critically loved film Save the Green Planet in 2003 yet disappeared, but thankfully this darkly imaginative filmmaker has returned with another off-kilter, unusual and stirring action film.