Seol Kyung-Gu and Ryu Seung-Beom Square Off in 용서는 없다 (No Mercy)

The last two years of Seol Kyung-Gu's career have been a rather puzzling collection of ups and downs, with plenty of box office success which further elevated his name in the eyes of the casual viewer, but also a distinct lack of those meatier, more meaningful projects which made him one of the very best Korean actors of the 2000s. And the same could be said for Ryu Seung-Wan's younger brother Seung-Beom, who keeps alternating excellent works (and performances) like 사생결단 (Bloody Tie) with dubious choices like 만남의 광장 (Underground Rendezvous), not to mention the projects he was involved with which went belly up. It's hard to say whether Kim Hyung-Joon's debut thriller 용서는 없다 (No Mercy) will change this trend, but if the trailer is of any indication, it might be a little meatier than what the two have been recently involved with, particularly Ryu.

No Mercy is essentially a stylistic offspring of 추격자 (The Chaser)'s success, pairing off Korea's autopsy master (Seol) with a ruthless murderer responsible for at least six victims on his table (Ryu), and putting the life of his daughter in peril. Stuck in the middle is Han Hye-Jin, who rose to stardom on TV with series like 굳세어라 금순아 (Be Strong, Geum-Soon) and particularly 주몽 (Jumong), and is shooting her first film since 2004. The film is releasing this December.