The South Korean film, The Childe (2023) starring Kim Seonho, Kang Tae-joo, Kim Kang-woo, and Go Ara has been receiving favorable reviews from the media and movie critics worldwide. Rotten Tomatoes shows a 100% tomatometer with 11 reviews from critics and a 97% audience score with 100+ ratings.
Here’s what the media and movie critics are saying about The Childe (2023):
“Seemingly endless actions scenes from car chase to shoot-outs, the audience never gets bored in this R-rated film. If you are craving hard-core action scenes you couldn’t find ‘The Roundup: No Way Out’, ‘The Childe’ may quench your thirst.” – Kim Da-sol, The Korea Herald
“With a welcome streak of humor, and zero compromise on his typically violent approach to storytelling, I’d be willing to say The Childe is the best work Hoon-jung has done since his sophomore feature with 2013’s The New World. The fact that it’s under 2 hours and features a scene stealing performance from Kim Seon-ho is just the icing on the cake.” – Paul Bramhall, City On Fire
“Violent, sadistic and quite a bit of fun, thanks to the big screen debut of Korean TV star Kim Seon-ho as a comically-cocksure, joking, grinning, chuckling and whistling hitman.” – Roger Moore, Movie Nation
“Expertly crafted to highlight the exquisite performances of its cast, the breathtaking bloodshed of its action sequences, and Seon-ho’s performance as quite possibly the coolest character of 2023, The Childe is a true masterpiece of violence.” – Chris Sawin, Bounding Into Comics
“Suspenseful, action-packed and thrilling.” – Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru
“K-drama heartthrob Kim Seon-ho steals the show…injecting his well-groomed assassin with a refreshing dose of self-effacing irreverence…Like a shotgun-toting episode of Succession, The Childe escalates into a greed-fuelled bloodbath.” – James Marsh, South China Morning Post
“The Childe is a new work from Park Hoon-jung that manages to entertain and still imply social issues in it.” – Christie Stefanie, CNN Indonesia
“This twisty thriller…is what might happen if Quentin Tarantino, with a bit of an assist from John Woo, Park Chan-wook’s “Old Boy” and the spirit of Alfred Hitchcock, had directed an episode of ‘Succession.'” – Cary Darling, Houston Chronicle
“The action of The Childe is dynamically staged and shot, and with this collection of players, it’s devious fun, too.” – Mark Dujsik, Mark Reviews Movies
“The Childe is a stylish crime thriller with fast-paced action, mayhem and shooting scenes, following a desperate Korean-Filipino man’s ominous journey to search for his Korean father with villains chasing him down.” – Kim Eun-jung, Yonhap News Korea
“For a film that runs two minutes shy of two hours, The Childe never drags. It’s a big, bloody action film of the kind we don’t get enough of and well worth seeing.” – Jim Morazzini, Voices From The Balcony
“This stylish South Korean thriller packed with comic book-style action is saddled with a weak protagonist, but makes up for it with an interesting villain.” – John Lui, The Strait Times Singapore
“The Childe is an intriguing action film with plot twists that will keep viewers riveted. The principal cast members give solid performances. There are also frank depictions of the prejudices experienced by half-Korean, half-Filipino people in South Korea.” – Carla Hay, Culture Mix Online
“The Childe is easily one of the best action films of 2023, and it’s thanks to Kim Seon-ho and his dynamic performance.” – Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community
“The director tips his hat to Tarantino a few times with a number of scenes impeccably staged and shot the way the American filmmaker would do them. Fortunately, they work and the film is all the more entertaining for them.” – Howard For Film
“It makes for passable entertainment, at best.” – Dennis Schwartz, Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
“The Childe may not be dense thematically or narratively, but it still ranks well within Park Hoon-jung’s filmography and is a superior action feature within the modern South Korean cinema landscape.” – Rhythm Zaveri, Asian Movie Pulse
“With its wicked charm and invigorated take on the tried-and-true tradition of neo-noir thrillers, [it] does a service not only to the films that came before it, but proves instructive for those to come after on how to draw out freshness from the familiar.” – Conor Truax, In Review Online
“Kim Seon-Ho becomes the center of every scene he’s in and becomes the primary focus of the film as the plot pushes forward. For a film that pushes 2 hours, the pacing is excellent and the story never drags on to the point where you can feel its run time.‘The Childe’ straps its audience into its seats and proceeds to bring them along the ride to a very satisfying conclusion.” – Society Reviews
The Childe (2023) is an action, noir film that highlights the mad pursuit of an aspiring Korean-Filipino (Kopino) boxer by a strange nobleman and other mysterious forces whose unknown mission is but to chase him and make his life a mess. It is written and helmed by Park Hoon-jung, the Korean director best known for his original and distinct style of noir action films.
It premiered on June 21st in South Korea and was also released theatrically in several countries including Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, USA, Canada, Philippines, Hongkong, and Macau. It will also hit the big screens in Thailand on July 27th and in India on August 4th.
Images: Next Entertainment World (NEW)
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