Whistle Blower: The Lies of Science

One of the great myths of the modern age is that scientists are more honest than most people. In truth, cancer researchers and genetic engineers are equally human and therefore occassionally get seduced by fame, money, power, and all the other niceties. Elizabeth Holmes has become the poster child for scientific fraud in the U.S. but she's hardly the only one worldwide. In Korea, they had Hwang Woo-suk, a stem cell biotechnologist who bulllshitted about cloning capabilities (on a global scale, no less) as he deluded himself and his cohorts that the actual discovery was a constant few months away.

Yim Soon-rye's thriller Whistle Blower puts that headline-grabbing story on the big screen. Told from the perspective of a tenacious veteran producer (Park Hae-il) whose pursuit of a story puts his life as well as his livelihood in danger, this film really drives home how hard it is to take on the powers that be. Truth isn't enough. People need to be brave to the point of self-sacrifice and lucky beyond what fate usually provides. And so, while Whistle Blower may be a feel-good story, you're also aware that more often than not Justice is not the result. Corruption exists in the upper echelons everywhere — the science community included.