The Negotiation brings its audience on a rollercoaster ride of emotions that manages to tick all the checkboxes of a fine thriller-action movie.
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Korean thriller ‘The Negotiation’ stars A-listers Son Ye-Jin as the no-nonsense police negotiator, Ha Chae-yoon and Hyunbin as Min Tae-gu, the notorious arms dealer based in Bangkok.
During one of Ha’s case, both the victim and perpetrators were killed by the SWAT team, before she even finished her negotiations. She was scarred from that incident and was reluctant to continue her job.
Ten days after the traumatic incident, Ha is called to an undisclosed palace by the chief to assist on an illegal arm dealing case with Min, who specifically demanded her to take over. During the negotiations with Min, she pleaded to him to release the hostages - a Korean police officer and a journalist - but on conditions that involved the decisions made from high-ranking government officials of Korea. She has only 12 hours before the deadline, but when the case starts to get fishy, Ha gathers her team to dig out more information about the case which leads to more loopholes in the conspiracy.
The Negotiation marks the directorial debut of Lee Jong-suk, who previously worked as an assistant director on Ode to My Father, one of the highest grossing South Korean films of all time, and took part in the screenwriting of The Himalayas.
Hyunbin is known for his charming personality in various Korean romantic dramas, widely seen as the rom-com king. To play the villain for the first time, the 36-year-old actor uses his charismatic features to his advantage, playing on its psychological traits of a killer. It’s the same for his co-star Son, who drops her cute onscreen persona for a level-headed negotiator who wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Despite most of the connection between the two actors are only through a screen, Lee manages to develop an onscreen connection between the two leads even though they stand at opposite sides of the law.
The Negotiation brings its audience on a rollercoaster ride of emotions that manages to tick all the checkboxes of a fine thriller-action movie.
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