Although it could possibly be deemed a case of style over substance, Byun Sung-hyun’s The Merciless is an accomplished and well-structured South Korean noir thriller.
The Merciless(불한당: 나쁜 놈들의 세상)
✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Korea · 2017
2h 0m
Director Byun Sung-hyun
Starring Sol Kyung-gu, Yim Si-wan, Kim Hee-won, Jeon Hye-jin
Genre Action, Crime, Mystery
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
Jae-ho, who aims to become the number one in a crime organization, gets to build up trust with Hyun-su, an ambitious newbie in the prison. While they try to take over the organization after the prison release, their ulterior motives starts to emerge.
We hate to say it, but we can't find anywhere to view this film.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The Playlist by Bradley Warren
It’s perhaps not a huge step-up to those already well-versed in recent Korean action cinema, but sturdy direction by helmer Jung Byung-gil, restrained hat-tips to genre films past and the well-paired male leads keep The Merciless from feeling like the summation of more famous films.
The Guardian by Jordan Hoffman
By the end of this relentless, sprawling and bloody crime opera it may be you who is on your knees, begging for the damn movie to just hurry up and end it.
An ultraviolent Korean crime film with plenty of swagger and visual brio, but still too generic to really stand out from the pack.
The Hollywood Reporter by Stephen Dalton
A minor addition to the Korean action cinema canon, The Merciless offers thin pleasures in a glossy package.
Users who liked this film also liked
Crooks in Clover
(Les Tontons flingueurs)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Italy, West Germany • 1963
- Director Georges Lautner
- Cast Lino Ventura, Bernard Blier, Francis Blanche, Claude Rich, Pierre Bertin, Jean Lefebvre
- Genre Action, Comedy, Crime
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Summer Wars
(サマーウォーズ)
A timid teen math genius must stop a sadistic artificial intelligence he has accidentally set loose.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2009
- Director Mamoru Hosoda
- Cast Ryunosuke Kamiki, Nanami Sakuraba, Mitsuki Tanimura, Takahiro Yokokawa, Mieko Nobusawa, Mutsumi Sasaki
- Genre Animation
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The Man from Nowhere
(아저씨)
Nothing to lose, nothing to compromise.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2010
- Director Lee Jeong-beom
- Cast Won Bin, Kim Sae-ron, Kim Tae-hoon, Kim Hee-won, Kim Sung-oh, Thanayong Wongtrakul
- Genre Action, Thriller, Crime
- Available on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, fuboTV, Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus, Kocowa, Hi-YAH, Netflix basic with Ads, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Rakuten Viki, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, FlixFling, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, VIX , Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Chinese Take-Away
(Un cuento chino)
Roberto meets Jun, a Chinese man searching for his uncle after being assaulted by a taxi driver and his henchmen.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Argentina, Spain • 2011
- Director Sebastián Borensztein
- Cast Ricardo Darín, Muriel Santa Ana, Javier Pinto, Ignacio Huang, Enric Cambray, Iván Romanelli
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Kanopy
As the Gods Will
(神さまの言うとおり)
Oh my God, please return my tedious everyday.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2014
- Director Takashi Miike
- Cast Sota Fukushi, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Hirona Yamazaki, Mio Yuki, Jingi Irie, Shota Sometani
- Genre Thriller, Horror, Comedy
- Available on Crunchyroll, Crunchyroll Amazon Channel, Fandango At Home
Miss Granny
(수상한 그녀)
When 74 year-old Oh Mal-Soon mysteriously turns 20 again, she decides to make the most out of her newfound youth.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2014
- Director Hwang Dong-hyuk
- Cast Shim Eun-kyung, Lee Jin-wook, Jung Jin-young, Park In-hwan, Sung Dong-il, Na Moon-hee
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Family, Music
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube
Planetarian: Hoshi no Hito
(planetarian ~星の人~)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2016
- Director Naokatsu Tsuda
- Cast Keiko Suzuki, Daisuke Ono, Sanae Fuku, Yoko Hikasa, Minami Tsuda, Yuuki Kuwahara
- Genre Animation, Drama
- Available on Crunchyroll Amazon Channel, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store
Sword Art Online: The Movie – Ordinal Scale
(劇場版 ソードアート・オンライン -オーディナル・スケール-)
It was just a game...or so I thought
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2017
- Director Tomohiko Ito
- Cast Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Haruka Tomatsu, Ayahi Takagaki, Ayana Taketatsu, Hiroaki Hirata, Hiroki Yasumoto
- Genre Animation, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Science Fiction
- Available on Hulu, Crunchyroll, Crunchyroll Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Derailed
(두 남자)
Four teenagers running away from home, are lost in the middle of nowhere.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2016
- Director Lee Seong-tae
- Cast Ma Dong-seok, Choi Min-ho, Kim Jae-young, Jeong Da-eun, Lee You-jin, Baek Soo-min
- Genre Crime, Action
- Available on Kocowa, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Plex, Popflick, Plex Channel
V.I.P.
(브이아이피)
V.I.P.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2017
- Director Park Hoon-jung
- Cast Jang Dong-gun, Kim Myung-min, Park Hee-soon, Lee Jong-suk, Choi Jung-woo, Peter Stormare
- Genre Crime, Thriller, Action
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Steel Rain
(강철비)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2017
- Director Yang Woo-seok
- Cast Jung Woo-sung, Kwak Do-won, Kim Kap-soo, Kim Eui-sung, Lee Kyung-young, Jang Hyun-sung
- Genre Action, Thriller
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion
(마녀)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2018
- Director Park Hoon-jung
- Cast Kim Da-mi, Cho Min-soo, Park Hee-soon, Choi Woo-shik, Go Min-si, Choi Jung-woo
- Genre Action, Mystery, Science Fiction
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Shudder, Shudder Amazon Channel, Rakuten Viki, Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus, Kocowa, AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Shudder Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Freevee, Hoopla
Rampant
(창궐)
A darkness looms over the kingdom
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2018
- Director Kim Sung-hoon
- Cast Hyun Bin, Jang Dong-gun, Jo Woo-jin, Jeong Man-sik, Lee Sun-bin, Kim Eui-sung
- Genre Action, Horror, Drama, Fantasy
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus, Kocowa, Hi-YAH, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Rakuten Viki, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, OnDemandKorea, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Freevee, Plex, Plex Channel
Default
(국가부도의 날)
A governmental crisis team has one week left to save South Korea from financial ruin in this thrilling dramatization of the 1997 IMF default crisis.
- ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2018
- Director Choi Kook-hee
- Cast Kim Hye-soo, Yoo Ah-in, Heo Joon-ho, Jo Woo-jin, Vincent Cassel, Kim Hong-pa
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube
Man of Men
(퍼펙트맨)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Korea • 2019
- Director Yong Soo
- Cast Sol Kyung-gu, Cho Jin-woong, Heo Joon-ho, Kim Sa-rang, Jin Sun-kyu, Ji Seung-hyun
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Rakuten Viki, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, AsianCrush, OnDemandKorea, Freevee, Plex, Plex Channel