Lucky Strike

Kim Yong-hoon's "Beasts Clawing at Straws" (2020) delivers a stylish and intricately plotted neo-noir thriller, immersing viewers in a darkly comedic world where desperate characters converge over a bag of money. The film excels in its complex narrative structure, weaving together multiple storylines with a masterful sense of timing and suspense that keeps the audience constantly guessing. The ensemble cast delivers compelling performances, each bringing a unique blend of desperation and cunning to their roles, enhancing the film's gritty atmosphere. Its strength lies in its sharp dialogue, unexpected twists, and a relentless build of tension, feeling organic and contributing significantly to the film's darkly humorous and thrilling tone. Instead of a straightforward crime story, it offers a clever and genuinely captivating puzzle of greed and consequence.

Is it worth watching? Absolutely. "Beasts Clawing at Straws" is a highly engaging and well-crafted thriller that offers a refreshing take on the crime genre, making it a compelling and satisfying watch for those who enjoy intricate plots and dark humor.

Making money is an absolute element, making a Quentin Tarantino movie clever.

I know this is a sub-genre that some people love and they would split hairs, calling me a killjoy, but to me this is like...Layer Cake? 8 Heads in a Duffle Bag? There are also some South Korean films from about twenty years ago with similar themes, though admittedly the script is original in its character development and fine details. I don't know how people survived all of those head injuries, especially the old grandma. It's a dark comedy, not meant to be realistic, and apparently based upon a novel. The main protagonist any normal person would root for is a clerk at a jjimjilbang, a real working class victim of the system, so I can gladly put this well-written film into the cannon of SK flicks that defend the downtrodden poor.

I have to agree with one previous reviewer: whoever gave this movie just 1 star clearly didn't even watch it.

'Cause, you know, you give one-star reviews to such crap as, I don't know, Look Who's Talking Too, Sausage Party or - to stay with recent releases - Cats or Extraction (aka Tyler Rake). You don't give such god-awful ratings to a movie like this. You may not like it, and that's okay, obviously. But you can't seriously be telling us you consider this one of the worst movies ever made.

Of course it's not perfect, of course it's no masterpiece but c'mon! Given the fact that this is a first-time outing well - it's a pretty damn good one. An edge-of-your-seat thriller that keeps you hooked for the entire running time. It may not be all that original, we can agree on that account, but it anyhow manages to pull off same good scenes and even - to same degree - some interesting points of social satire. What else should we ask for?

The title in itself it's already pretty much revealing as the whole plot centers around a bag full of money and the lenghts the characters involved are able to go to put their hands upon it. They got different reasons and not all of them act out of pure greed. But, in the end, this simple narrative mechanism is perfectly functional to show us the way money controls and directs our lives. The absence of money, of course, but also the excessive amount of it.

As I already mentioned: nothing original in here. But the director has the skills and so he manages to keep us interested. Till a totally sneering conclusion that seems to give us some sort of "cosmic justice" if you pass me the term. Or, most probably, it's just another delusion and the whole bloody affair will repeat itself again and again and happiness will never be reached.

So, yeah, I'll say Beast Clawing at Straws is a solid thriller, tightly written and directed and wonderfully acted (and a special mention, on this regard, goes to Jeon Do-yeon: as soon as she enters the scene well, she just steals the show).

"Beasts" is a little confusing at the start. We're shown three people who really need money (a low-income worker with an elderly mother, a young woman who is treated badly by her partner, and a government worker in debt to the underworld). And a bag of money that is there to be had.

But the timelines for these stories are not in sync, and the pacing can be rather slow (although there are still good moments).

The tension starts to build when the young woman is involved in a crime. But the film really comes to life when the woman's boss appears about half way through. She is a devastating femme fatale, played brilliantly by Jeon Do-yeon, and is at the heart of all the the action and intrigue and black comedy that follows as the three storylines are bound together.

Stick with it and you'll be rewarded with a sharp and entertaining finale.