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The Drug King

The Drug King

Crime · Action · Drama · 2018

Busan, South Korea, 1970s. Lee Doo-sam is a small-time smuggler. After helping a drug gang to smuggle meth, he falls into the dark crime world. Quick-witted and full of ambition, he eventually takes over the drug underworld and starts to lead a double life: a good community leader during the day but an infamous drug lord during the night.

Movie details

The Drug King

“He who was a criminal and a patriot.”

2018 Crime · Action · Drama 2h 19m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

Busan, South Korea, 1970s. Lee Doo-sam is a small-time smuggler. After helping a drug gang to smuggle meth, he falls into the dark crime world. Quick-witted and full of ambition, he eventually takes over the drug underworld and starts to lead a double life: a good community leader during the day but an infamous drug lord during the night.

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 Drug King?

The 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.

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Veronica Guerin

Veronica Guerin

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In this true story, Veronica Guerin is an investigative reporter for an Irish newspaper. As the drug trade begins to bleed into the mainstream, Guerin decides to take on and expose those responsible. Beginning at the bottom with addicts, Guerin then gets in touch with John Traynor, a paranoid informant. Not without some prodding, Traynor leads her to John Gilligan, the ruthless head of the operation, who does not take kindly to Guerin's nosing.

Coffy

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A quiet, stoic man, lives a monk-like existence in self-imposed exile. When his estranged son is killed in a drug deal gone bad, he is left to look after a granddaughter he never knew existed, and he is forced back into a life he tried to put behind him.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Woo Min-ho

Written by

Woo Min-ho · Lee Ji-min

Song Kang-ho

Song Kang-ho

Lee Doo-sam

Cho Jung-seok

Cho Jung-seok

Kim In-goo

Bae Doona

Bae Doona

Kim Jeong-ah

Kim So-jin

Kim So-jin

Seong Sook-kyeong

Kim Dae-myung

Kim Dae-myung

Lee Doo-hwan

Lee Sung-min

Lee Sung-min

Seo Sang-hoon

Lee Hee-jun

Lee Hee-jun

Choi Jin-pil

Court is in session

Put The Drug King on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Momentum is a formal choice.”

The velocity sharpens instinct and tension, making every beat land before self-importance can settle in.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Speed as an alibi.”

The film races past its weak spots and hopes acceleration will keep the audience from inspecting the evidence.