Today’s quick review: Missing You. Fifteen years after her father was murdered by serial killer Kim Ki-bun (Kim Sung-oh), Nam Hee-ju (Shim Eun-kyung) gets her shot at revenge when Kim is released from prison. As Detective Jo Dae-young (Yun Je-mun) and his men keep a close eye on Kim to catch him in the act, Hee-ju lays a clever trap for the killer. But the situation turns violent when another serial killer (Oh Tae-kyung) enters the picture.
Missing You is a Korean crime thriller about a young woman’s plan for revenge. Hee-ju, now in her twenties, leads a double life. On the outside, she is a kind, sunny girl who has been adopted by the police station where her father worked. On the inside, she has steeled herself to do whatever it takes to see Kim in prison or dead. What follows is a peculiar game of cat-and-mouse between a killer and one of his victims.
Missing You has a dark and unpredictable plot. Kim is guilty of more murders than he was sentenced for, but the pressure that comes down on him after his release is purely the result of old grudges. Hee-ju’s plan, Dae-young’s determination to send Kim back to prison, and unfinished business with a rival serial killer all put Kim on the defensive. Seeing how Kim, a dangerous and resourceful man, rolls with the punches is one of the movie’s draws.
However, Missing You may be too bleak for some viewers. Hee-ju makes for a sympathetic protagonist, but the violent way she goes about her revenge stains her innocence and turns her into something of a tragic figure. The police, for their part, are compromised by a series of costly blunders that let the situation escalate out of control. The result is a morally grey story where no one is fully in the right.
Missing You is a fine pick for those interested in what it has to offer. The roles its characters fill are different from the usual serial killer story, and this leads to some interesting twists on the formula. Still, Missing You is a shade or two darker than it needs to be, and its story is not entirely cathartic. Anyone looking for a normal investigation should approach with caution. Viewers with a taste for dubious deeds should check it out.
For a crime drama about a vengeful young man taking the law into his own hands, check out Boy Wonder. For more subdued crime drama about a murderer released from prison, try Blue Ruin. For a crime drama about a pair of detectives desperate to arrest a serial killer without much evidence, try The Little Things. For another crime thriller about a serial killer, try The Bone Collector, Kiss the Girls, or Taking Lives.
[6.7 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5545862/). I give it a 6.5 to 7.0 for a bleak but compelling story.