“Yadang: The Snitch” Theatrical Poster
Director: Hwang Byeong-gug
Cast: Kang Ha-neul, Yoo Hae-jin, Park Hae-joon, Chae Won-bin, Ryu Kyung-soo, Kim Geum-soon, Yu Seong-ju, Lim Sung-kyun, Cho Wan-ki, Kim Mi Suk
Running Time: 122 min.
By Paul Bramhall
In Korea the term Yadang refers to a professional snitch, a role that exists as an unofficial liaison between the junkies and the cops, forming a kind of symbiotic relationship that allows the latter to leverage the former in extracting information on where the drugs they take are coming from. The snitch is paid for their services under the table, and technically everyone should walk away happy – the cops get a fast track to intel that would otherwise take months of investigative work, and the junkies escape jailtime thanks to the information they’ve given up. In Yadang: The Snitch the title role is played by Kang Ha-neul (The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure, Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet), who we meet in a fast-paced opening segment that shows how he came to exclusively work for an ambitious prosecutor played by Yoo Hae-jin (Exhuma, Confidential Assignment).
Keen to work his way up the ranks, the pair have become so good at what they do that Hae-jin starts getting to the criminals before the cops do, much to the chagrin of a detective played by Park Hae-joon (Heart Blackened, Believer), whose months of investigative work turn out to be for nothing. However when the trio’s paths overlap during a drug bust involving the rich son of a presidential candidate, their fates become interwoven, with Hae-jin agreeing to let the son off the hook in return for a seat in the Central Prosecutors Office. The classic case of a character’s ambitious streak clouding their moral judgement, the decision costs Ha-neul and Hae-joon dearly, and when the dust settles both set out to settle the score.
Directed by Hwang Byeong-gug (My Wedding Campaign, S.I.U.), while watching Yadang: The Snitch there was more than once when I was reminded of Ryoo Seung-wan’s 2010 crime thriller The Unjust, which similarly focuses on the interweaving fates of 3 characters operating on both sides of the law. The comparison is a complimentary one, and perhaps the familiarity also comes from the fact that Yoo Hae-jin played one of the leads in the earlier production as well. There’s a certain throwback vibe throughout Byeong-gug’s latest, one which is particularly felt during an early scene featuring a gang of angry steel pipe wielding cops chasing down a vehicle. I can’t pinpoint exactly when Korean cinema turned away from portraying the trusted steel pipe as its police forces go-to weapon of choice, but if I had to guess I’d say it was probably around the time when Korean culture started to become popular globally in the mid 2010’s.
The relationship between informant and the law has been explored before in the likes of Dante Lam’s The Stool Pigeon, and here Byeong-gug proves there’s plenty of mileage left in the dynamic to anchor a crime thriller around. As the Yadang of the title Kang Ha-neul initially seems to be going for the over-acting award of the year, with a somewhat grating portrayal of a role you’d assume would require an element of staying under the radar, so as not to make yourself known to the wider criminal world. Not so here. Ha-neul is a loud, cigar smoking, hummer driving attention magnet who, only through the assumed magic of cinema, has remained as successful in his role as he has. The portrayal turns out to be a narratively fuelled one though, with his brash demeanour soon fizzled out when the betrayal he suffers leads to some grizzly results.
It works, if only just, although it’s easy to feel that in the hands of a director like Oh Seung-wook or Lee Hae-yeong the way Ha-neul’s character is portrayed before and after would likely have been handled with a bit more nuance. Far more effective is the ever-reliable Yoo Hae-jin, who nails his role as the prosecutor whose ambitions ultimately see him fall victim to temptation. There’s something about Hae-jin that remains inherently likeable even when he’s cast in villainous roles, and as such there are several moments throughout Yadang: The Snitch when you find yourself hoping he’ll redeem himself. However the deeper he’s pulled into the world of political corruption, the harder it becomes to turn back, making his characters journey a particularly compelling one in the way he starts out as someone to root for, but by the end you’re hoping to see his downfall.
Similarly Park Hae-joon clocks in a stellar performance as the detective, with the narrative structure essentially acting in reverse when it comes to how the audience feels about his character compared to Hae-jin. While his frustration at being pipped to the post by Hae-jin’s prosecutor initially frames his role as the typical incompetent cop, as the plot progresses it becomes clear that, even if he’s not the most likeable guy in the room, he does his job well. Once he realises he’ll have to work with Ha-neul to have a chance of taking Ha-jin down, the chemistry between the pair makes for one of cinemas more enjoyable reluctant team-ups in recent years.
While more a crime thriller than an action thriller, there are some welcome doses of the latter throughout the runtime. A couple of vehicular crashes are well staged (including Ha-neul’s hummer mounting the front of a car), and if what we see in Yadang: The Snitch is anything to go by, could it be that in 2025 we’ve finally seen the back of CGI car crashes? Ha-neul and Hae-joon also get their own fight scenes during a visit to a fish restaurant that come courtesy of stuntman turned director Heo Myeong-haeng (Badland Hunters, The Roundup: Punishment). There’s something about Korean movies that feature restaurant set brawls that always hits the spot, from Arahan to Public Enemy, and here Hae-joon’s face off against an axe wielding lackey is a highlight. The brawl is intercut with Ha-neul’s own throwdown against a buzzsaw brandishing gangster in the back of an eel filled delivery truck that features some wince worthy moments.
Despite the narrative moving at a brisk pace, there are some scenes that descend into cliché, and would arguably have been better left on the cutting room floor. At one point Ha-neul and Hae-joon team up with an up-and-coming actress played by Chae Won-bin (Strong Underdog, Run Boy Run), due to her being on the invite list of the drug fuelled parties the presidential candidate’s son holds, the plan being to perform a sting and get the evidence they need to put him away. After successfully pulling it off there’s a whole scene dedicated to her video calling them while driving so they can celebrate together, however it feels out of character and blatantly obvious as to what’s coming next, the setup to get to the outcome feeling all too predictable in its execution. A little more nuance in these one-off scenes would have benefitted Byeong-gug’s latest, however thankfully they’re not enough to diminish the overall entertainment factor.
The son himself is played with villainous delight by Ryu Kyung-soo (Broker, Jung-E), and while his comeuppance is always peripheral to the main plot involving the trio of leads, he makes the most of his limited screentime, ensuring the audience will want to see him receive his just deserts. Similarly the likes of Kim Geum-soon (Seire, Svaha: The Sixth Finger) and Yu Seong-ju (Revolver, The Land of Happiness) clock in effective supporting turns as rival gangsters in the drug trade, their presence broadening the scope of the world the story takes place in, and offering up a suitably bloody conclusion to their own sub-plot.
While Yadang: The Snitch doesn’t necessarily offer up any new ingredients to the tried and tested crime thriller, it cooks them up in a way that feels fresh, and the combination of Kang Ha-neul, Yoo Hae-jin, and Park Hae-joon prove to be an effective trio of leads to share the spotlight. If anything, we may see a shift from the expression “snitches get stiches” to “stiches get third degree burns and forcibly injected with North Korean methamphetamine.” It may not roll off the tongue in quite the same way, but I think it could catch on.
Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 7/10
