Movie with inventive plots these days are few and far between. Spiritwalker (released in 2020 in Korea) gets its long awaited UK release and if you are yet to see it, you are in for a real treat.
Waking up with a gunshot wound, a mysterious man (Yoon Kye-Sang, Golden Slumber, The Outlaws) has no memory of who he is or where he came from, but soon finds himself transported into someone else’s body every twelve hours. Confused and hunted down at every turn, it’s a race against the clock as he pieces together clues about his identity and any connection between the seemingly random body-swaps he is experiencing.
A very cleverly wound action thriller that in its momento-esque style slowly unravels what on earth is going on. Spiritwalker doesn’t reveal its hand to early either so you are as confused as the films protagonist is throughout. The action comes thick and fast, with some particularly excellent gun ballet and close quarters combat.
Director Yoon Jae-Keun keeps things moving at a fluid up tempo pace without ever dropping into any exposition heavy scenes. The action is deftly shot and the locales are parts of the twists and turns as our mysterious hero body swaps. However some of the body swap visuals are simply glorious and very ingenious to boot. With the various actors playing Kye-Sang as he would play them, before switching faces is again is down to some great direction.
Yoon Kye-Sang and Ji-Yeon Lim (as Moon) are fantastic in the lead roles that keep you continually on the precipice of thinking you know what is going on until the next next body swap completely pulls the rug out from under your feet. Each jump into another character brings a new set of questions until the reveal of exactly what’s going on and then you realise it’s even more clever once you piece it all together. Park Yong-woo is intense as the films villain, although just who he is again is deftly handled. Then there’s the films star turn in the shape of the homeless Yoo Seung-mok who discovers our hero in the films opening and emparts pearls of wisdom including hot dogs, give some respite from the ongoing action and injects some well place humour too.
Spiritwalker is yet another classy action thriller from Korean cinema that will enthrall you until the final frame. For action fans, Spiritwalker has it all and a lot more beside. Mystery, action, visual flair and clever direction adds up for a exciting way to spend a couple of hours.
Trinity CineAsia presents Spiritwalker on Digital platforms from 31st March
