When Squid Games Lee Jungjae takes the director's chair to give his version of what the machinations of the South Korean security police in the 80s might have looked like, there is no shortage of impressive action scenes. Lee Jungjae and Jung Woosung in the lead roles make up a charismatic duo, but on the whole, Hunt is unfortunately a fairly messy film experience...

The year is 1983, 4 years after the fall of dictator Park Chunghee. But the new president is also a dictator, which provokes protests from the South Korean immigrant population in the United States before his visit. “Drive him out,” they shout, and when the South Korean officials wonder why they can't just drive the protesters away, Park Pyongho (Lee Jungjae), the head of the foreign affairs unit of Korea's Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA), patiently replies that they can't in the US (and gets the somewhat sarcastic answer that the protesters have very strong opinions about the homeland after abandoning it…).
 
The introduction shows the difference between the free country in the West, and the censorship and corruption back home. Because soon Park Pyungho is back in South Korea, where protesters are beaten and tortured, where corruption is high, and where you don't know who you can trust. Especially not as it is revealed that there is a North Korean spy within the KCIA, someone who goes by the code name "Donglim".
 
Park Pyungho is tasked with identifying the spy, but the same task is also assigned to Kim Jungdo (Jung Woo-sung) of the KCIA's domestic unit, which gives rise to an intense power struggle. Park Pyungho is a veteran of the agency while Kim Jungdo is a newcomer from the Korean Army. Park Pyungho comes across as the more sympathetic and righteous of the two men, especially as he condemns Kim Jungdo's use of torture in his interrogation methods. It turns out that he has his own experiences with these as Kim Jungdo previously interrogated him, which left him with permanent nerve damage in his hand.
 
Lee Jungjae is a lovely anti-hero (for sure, there are male melodrama ingredients here, the reluctant legal fighter who suffers the heavy injustices of life, and selflessly risks his life, accompanied by melancholic music). A tough guy who installs a corrupt leader within the unit, and protects the young and beautiful but secretive college student Yoojung (Go Younjung). He seems to have taken to her since her father was killed, but their actual relationship remains unclear for most of the film. Here we get some sort of explanation at the end, but everything else leaves us with question marks.
 
Because the spectacularly well-choreographed action sequences aren't always narratively supported enough to justify them. Much of the violence is unprovoked, and serves no narrative function. You almost get a little sense of what a German crime drama would look like if it was accidentally mixed with splatter. A traditional film adaptation cut together here and there, with interspersed violence from ear files to mass shootings and car chases and everything in between. The plot becomes difficult to follow.
 
This makes the movie experience a bit frustrating after a while. Spectacular action sequences and close-ups of the charismatic Lee Jungjae are not enough to fully sustain interest throughout the film's 2 hours and 11 minutes. Crime dramas and spy films work best with methodically planted clues that, while surprising, move the story forward - A story you can follow and understand.
 
Hunt carries too many secrets, too much unprovoked violence, and too dark motives. The characters may be moving in a time of psychological terror, where everyone around them is a potential enemy, but the script that conveys this must still be the audience's friend.