Deliver Us From Evil: Essential Neo-Noir

What's needed to make a movie a film noir? An unsavory underworld? An avenging antihero? A dominoed sequence of dastardly crimes? Well, yes, all those things can come into play and more. But a noir also isn't a noir without some seriously considered cinematography enhanced by the moodiest of lighting. For the great Fritz Lang, the noir of the '40s/'50s was distinguished by arty camera angles and strategically-cast shadows; for writer-director Hong Wan-chon, the amoral action gets a richer palette if not the crackling dialogue. No longer black-and-white, his update on noir abounds with fireside yellows, silvery blues, and scarily splashy reds. (Literally, "splashy" since the blood does splatter.) Set in the asphalt jungle (where else?), Deliver Us From Evil has neo-noir's ravishing visuals and vigilante vibe down pat.

Hong's sinister screenplay is better than basic, too. Much better. A world-weary assassin (Hwang Jung-min) — is there any other kind? — heads to Bangkok to right wrongs out of the past, after his never-quite-forgotten ex-girlfriend (Choi He-seo) suddenly resurfaces on his radar only to vanish once again. Naturally, the villainy only spirals out from there. Beyond a reasonable doubt, Hong next-levels the reliable black-market-organ trope (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, The Man From Nowhere, Traffickers). Equally potent is the wardrobe of the retaliating nemesis (Lee Jung-jae) who shows up at one point in a zebra-print shirt paired with aviator glasses. Killer, for sure. The same can be said for the acting of Park Jeong Min whose turn as a trans nightclub performer who serves as the "good" assassin's most-reliable sidekick adds just the right amount of sparkle to a world dominated by doom and gloom.

Some may say that Deliver Us From Evil has too many moments that go too far: How could a layperson know how to perform surgery on themselves? What allows an individual to outmaneuvre a full police SWAT team without even spraining an arm? Why would a bloodbath be followed by a snifter of booze? Those looking for logic are likely to end up as shell-shocked as the movie's kidnapped little girl (Park So-yi). As one character says, "The reason doesn't matter anymore." But Hong's film sure does, if you're thirsting for a thriller.