Derailed (2016) Review

“Derailed” Theatrical Poster

Director: Lee Seong-Tae
Cast: Ma Dong-Seok, Minho, Kim Jae-Young, Jung Da-Eun, Lee You-Jin, Baek Soo-Min, Kim Won-Sik, Park Ho-San, Park Sung-Il, Han Soo-Hyun, Seo Ho-Chul
Running Time: 91 min.

By Paul Bramhall

Derailed had a pretty bumpy road to the screen, as the story which takes place in the world of runaway teenagers was turned down by every investor it was pitched to, for reasons which become apparently clear once you look at the era in which it was made. Despite only being made 5 years ago from the time of writing, in 2016 Korea was still under the presidency of Park Geun-hye, who much like her father Park Chung-hee before her, exerted a level of censorship over the film industry that wasn’t visible to the public eye. Any production that cast contemporary Korea in a negative light was unlikely to get the go-ahead, and combined with a first-time director, Derailed reads almost like a checklist of red flags.

However ultimately the production got not one but two saviours, when popular K-pop group SHINee member Choi Min-ho and burly bruiser Ma Dong-seok expressed interest to take the parts of the 2 leads (the Korean title directly translates to 2 Guys). For Min-ho, the role on paper was a vast departure from anything he’d done before. While it wouldn’t be his acting debut, it would be his first time to appear on the big screen, with his previous roles comprising of parts in K-drama shows which played to his pretty boy looks and K-pop fanbase. The danger with his casting was that the script would be shot through a saccharine lens in order to facilitate his involvement.

Thankfully that’s not the case, with his role as a teenage runaway anchoring the punchy 90-minute runtime. Along with his girlfriend, played by now defunct K-pop group 2Eyes member Jung Daeun (here making her acting debut, she’s gone onto feature in the likes of The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion) and another runaway couple, together the quartet keep a roof over their heads each night by selling on a variety of stolen goods. When their latest deal goes pear shaped, short on cash and with night approaching, Daeun goes against Min-ho’s wishes and attempts to pull off a prostitution scam, in which she advertises herself as a prostitute with the intention of running off with the clients money before needing to do anything. She’s picked up by karaoke bar owner Ma Dong-seok, who quickly catches on to what’s going down, but not before the runaways manage to escape with his BMW and wallet.

Transaction alerts means it’s not too difficult for Dong-seok to track them down, although by the time he gets to them his BMW is already out of their hands. After turning Min-ho’s face into a bloody pulp, he forces Daeun to work in his karaoke bar, with the added threat of real prostitution, until the BMW’s debt is cleared. Desperate, Min-ho vows to get the money together so he can buy her freedom, and embarks on an increasingly dangerous path of crime to raise the funds, one which is confounded further by the release from prison of a revenge seeking figure from his past.

It’s at this point that Derailed becomes particularly interesting. While the plot sets itself up for a grim tale of a runaway teenager trying to buy back his girlfriend from a ruthless karaoke bar owner, instead the narrative splits its focus, allowing us to get to know Dong-seok as much as we do Min-ho. We learn of the mistakes that have led him to becoming who he is today, and much like Min-ho, he also does what he does to provide for his nearest and dearest while trying to clear a sizable debt. Like many Korean indie productions of similar ilk, neither character is painted as the one we’re supposed to be rooting for, with the frequently violent actions they’re responsible for taking place against a morally ambiguous background of increasing grey.

Director Lee Seong-tae was known for helming several short films dating back to 2001, but it was his 2007 short The Ten-Minute Break which caught people’s attention, being invited to screen at several international film festivals. The success of the short set him up to eventually helm Derailed almost a decade later (which would be followed by his sophomore full-length feature in 2019 – By Quantum Physics – A Nightlife Venture), and he shows a keen sense of pacing and tension building. While runaway teenagers are a problem for South Korea, the demographic rarely finds itself the focus of the countries film industry. Controversial director Jang Sun-woo’s 1997 part-documentary part-fiction work Bad Movie remains the most confronting take on the subject, but the likes of Kim Yu-min’s Yellow Hair, Park Chu-soo’s Bongja, and more recently Shin Su-won’s Madonna, all offer unique insights on the issue.

Where Seong-tae’s feature-length debut differentiates itself from the others is in its unflinching take on violence. The characters that populate Derailed are ones that society has backed into a corner, and their default response is to lash out. Bloodied fists, steel pipes, baseball bats, and knives all make frequent appearances, as what feels like a literal fight for survival plays out between those on the fringes of society. It’s a brutal life, and one that doesn’t adhere to the standards of fair play and doing what’s right, but in many ways that’s what makes Min-ho and Dong-seok’s characters so compelling. Despite the circumstances they find themselves in, underneath the grime they’re both fundamentally decent. Min-ho is driven solely by the desire to protect his girlfriend, and Dong-seok is driven by the need to provide for his family. Neither are model citizens, but they do what they do for the right reasons.

Speaking of Dong-seok, Derailed was released the same year he broke through as the zombie bashing protective husband in Train to Busan, and I’d argue that his performance here is a far more effective showcase of his talents than his one-note supporting role (but I get it, a zombie punching husband is pretty cool). As a character who starts out on the offensive, he becomes increasingly compromised as events conspire against him in unexpected ways, not least by putting himself on the radar of Minho’s former acquaintance recently released from prison. Played by Kim Jae-young (Golden Slumber, Money), the fact that he feels wronged by Min-ho sees him desperate to track him down, and when he suspects Dong-seok knows Min-ho’s whereabouts, the stocky Korean also finds himself in the crosshairs.

While both main protagonists feel like fully rounded characters, Jae-young acts as a borderline psychopath out to beat seven bells out of anyone that even looks at him the wrong way, but in the context of the narrative his presence works well. Essentially acting as a one-man whirlwind of chaos and violence, his entrance keeps proceedings on a knife edge, which is maintained through to the finale when all the key players converge in a parking lot and tensions bubble over. Director Seong-tae shows a masterful hand at cranking up the tension, plugging into the most basic human instinct of wanting to cause harm to someone who’s wronged a loved one, and it plays out in devastating fashion that sees numerous examples of grievous bodily harm dished out.

Korean indies are known for often taking on bleak subject matter, and while that’s also the case for Derailed, it feels like it has more to offer than just doom and gloom. Bolstered by a pair of stellar leading performances from Min-ho and Dong-seok, and contained within a compact 90-minute runtime which feels like a coiled spring of tension, for his feature-length debut Seong-tae has taken his talent for short films, and successfully applied it for the big screen. Korean cinema may have lost the gritty edge it once had, but Derailed is a timely reminder that it’s still capable of delivering the goods. In recent years we’ve gotten used to Dong-seok punching hapless lackeys in the face, so perhaps the biggest compliment that I can give to Derailed, is that it made it feel like the first time once more.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 8.5/10