Humint, the recent Korean thriller, requires patience to get through, especially the languid first half with its lengthy exposition. And while it delivers a reasonably satisfying payoff, it fails to make the most of its premise due to the sudden shift from the subtle intrigue of a cold war era-style thriller to slam-bang, wall-to-wall action.
To give credit where it is due, the film has a cracker of a plot. It revolves around South Korean intelligence agent Manager Zo (Zo In-sung), his North Korean counterpart Park Geon (Park Jeong-min) and Geon’s former fiancee, Chae Seon-hwa (Shin Se-kyung). When Zo is sent on a mission to thwart a drug racket in Russia that deals with a human trafficking ring across the country’s border with North Korea, his journey crosses paths with Seon-hwa and Geon. When the odds are stacked against Seon-hwa, will she choose loyalty towards her handler or love for Geon and their country?
Director: Ryoo Seung-wan
Cast: Zo In-sung, Park Jeong-min, Park Hae-joon
Streamer: Netflix
The film initially spends time showing the plight of North Korean informants supplying intel to officers in South Korea and how they lure and deal with their drug customers. These scenes are important to set up Zo’s backstory and show the ruthlessness of the North Korean State Security officials in dealing with defectors and those who are labelled as traitors to the regime. However, the said portions take a large chunk of the runtime and mostly offer background information that could rather have been implied or better weaved into the script. By the time it cuts to the chase and starts to gain momentum, showing Zo and his operations in Russia with Seon-hwa, we are almost at the halfway mark, with patience wearing thin. The film’s potent ideas pop in some moments, like one where Zo tries to convinced Seon-hwa to share crucial intel, saying that, constitutionally, Korea is one big peninsula and that the South and North separations should not deter her from saving human lives.
The film makes a compelling case for peace and bonhomie, with the officers putting aside the differences between their nations for a common cause. It feels refreshing to see a film averting cliches that would amount to hate mongering, especially at a time when nations around the world are in conflicts with each other and even cinema tends to capitalise on this scenario with hypernationalistic narratives. Kudos to writer-director Ryoo Seung-wan also for avoiding action cliches, such as antagonists having poor aim. It is commendable how the film opens and ends with a different form of sacrifice, showing how gathering intel can be a painful task for some, even as it benefits the law enforcement and society at large.
However, none of these pluses ensure a thrilling and suspenseful ride because of the film’s tendency to trade thematic depth for cinematic fireworks. While most of the action is well executed, it ultimately leaves you a tad dissatisfied because of the amount of nuance that gets under-explored here. Even when it comes to the stunts, it appears outlandish when the protagonists casually walk into the drug group's location and take out all of them, one by one, with pistols. Nevertheless, Humint benefits from strong performances from its leads and an overarching message about peace and the sacrifices that come at its expense.