The Night Owl is a movie that took a small part of Korean history and was told in a very different way. It was a similar style with Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino’s films such as Inglorious Bastards and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It’s very refreshing and exciting retelling of what happened to the kidnapped crown prince who died just a few days after he came back to Joseon.

The acting was really good with Ryu Jun Yeol as the “light-blind” acupuncturist/doctor. It is not the first time I saw Ryu in a saeguk (Alienoid) and he delivered very well in this movie with a different take and was really convincing with his role. Yoo Hae-Jin as the mad King Injo also was very good and showed how flexible of an actor he is.

The cinematography of the film was really dark since they have to use dark sets, however there was no problem with seeing the small details while watching night scenes. The screenplay was also good and the flow of story was smooth even it is a thriller genre in the historical period. The best scene for me was when the crown princess went to the King to tell the story of “the witness”, the realization of who really killed the crown prince was amazing.

All in all, I recommend this movie. It is very thrilling movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Also, this movie really won a lot of Baeksang awards (Best Film, Best New Director and Best Actor), thus it is a must watch!