The defence The Big-Idea Head
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
Back to trending 
The Merciless
Action · Crime · Mystery · 2017
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 prison. When they try to take over the organization after their release, their ulterior motives start to emerge.
Movie details
The Merciless
“Careful who you trust.”
2017 Action · Crime · Mystery 2h 0m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
6.8 / 10
3.8K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
73 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
53 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
7.2 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
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 prison. When they try to take over the organization after their release, their ulterior motives start to emerge.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Merciless?
For the defence
The Big-Idea Head
“You watch with your brain, not your gut.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Ordinary People
Action · 2018
A gym teacher and his female student look for her missing friend. But as they investigate, they find that her disappearance is a part of a larger conspiracy.
Private Eye
Mystery · 2009
The story takes place in occupied Korea at the start of the 20th century, where a young student in medicine discovers the murdered body of the son of a government official. Being scared of being accused, he decides to hire Hong Jin-ho (a detective) to help him find the murderer before the police accuse him of the murder.
Confession
Crime · 2022
Min-ho's adulterous lover Se-hee is murdered in a hotel where only the two of them were present, and Min-ho is immediately singles out as the prime suspect. Insisting on his innocence, Min-ho hires the talented lawyer Shin-ae to defend him, and confesses to her that a car accident on the day before may be connected to Se-hee's murder.
Going by the Book
Comedy · 2007
The chief of Sampo City Police Office, Seung-u, organizes a simulation of a bank robbery, but a by-the-book cop gets too caught up in the role playing in which the simulation doesn't go the way he had anticipated.
Midnight Runners
Comedy · 2017
Two apathetic police academy recruits who become best buddies through the tough training together witness a woman being abducted right before their very eyes. As they were taught in the academy, they quickly report the incident to the police, but the police are in no hurry to jump on the case. So the duo decide to take the matter into their own hands and rescue the woman.
The Con Artists
Action · 2014
A wily safecracker is forced to help a mob boss pull off a $150 million heist, but smells a double-cross in the works.
Miss & Mrs. Cops
Action · 2019
Once a legendary detective and a new mom, Mi-young, now works a desk job. But when overenthusiastic newbie Ji-hye is assigned to Mi-young's civil complaints team, the two female cops get caught up in a serious criminal case that triggers an action-filled comedic investigation.
The Seven-Ups
Thriller · 1973
A tough detective who is part of an elite New York City unit is trying to find out who killed his partner, but uncovers a plot to kidnap mobsters for money.
Limbo
Crime · 2023
Travis, a jaded detective, arrives in the remote outback town of Limbo to investigate the cold case murder of local Indigenous girl Charlotte Hayes 20 years ago. As truths about the murder begin to unfold, the detective gains a new insight into the unsolved case.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Animation · 1993
Andrea Beaumont leaves her father to return to Gotham, rekindling an old romance with Bruce Wayne. At the same time, a mysterious figure begins to hunt down Gotham's criminals, wrongly implicating Batman in the murders. Now on the run from the law, Batman must find and stop the culprit, while also navigating his relationship with Andrea.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Byun Sung-hyun
Written by
Byun Sung-hyun · Kim Min-su
Sul Kyung-gu
Han Jae-ho
Yim Si-wan
Jo Hyun-su
Kim Hie-won
Byung-gab
Jeon Hye-jin
In-sook
Lee Kyung-young
Byung-chul
Moon Ji-yoon
Young-geun
Jang In-sub
Min-chul
Court is in session
Put The Merciless on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.