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James Marsh

3.5/5 stars
The Russian city of Vladivostok provides the setting for Humint, the latest globe-trotting thriller from South Korean action specialist Ryoo Seung-wan.
Set in the high-stakes world of international espionage, the film features Zo In-sung (Escape from Mogadishu) and Park Jeong-min (Uprising) as agents from South and North Korea, respectively, who attempt to foil a human trafficking ring.
After opening in South Korean cinemas during the Lunar New Year holiday, Humint launches globally on Netflix on March 31.


The title is a portmanteau of “Human” and “Intelligence” and refers to informants who provide valuable information to the authorities, often at the risk of their own lives.
Manager Zo (Zo) of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service is still reeling from the death of his last informant when he is dispatched to Vladivostok to make contact with Chae Seon-hwa (Shin Sae-kyeong), a worker at a North Korean restaurant.
A massive human-trafficking and drug-dealing operation appears to originate from the city, which Seoul suspects is being masterminded by North Korean officials working in cahoots with the Russian mob.
Pyongyang suspects the same and sends its own operative, Park Geon (Park), to observe the local consul general, Hwang Chi-sung (Park Hae-joon), who is stationed in Vladivostok.
Hwang’s job is to round up North Korean defectors and send them home, but many of his detainees – especially the women – are disappearing.

Soon after his arrival, Park also crosses paths with Seon-hwa, and it is immediately apparent that they know each other from back in North Korea. But as both agents scramble to rescue the same woman, they are set on a collision course with one another.
Hailed as Korea’s “action kid” when he burst onto the scene aged just 27 with his 2000 debut Die Bad, Ryoo has delivered a procession of propulsive thrillers that include The City of Violence (2006), Veteran (2015) and The Battleship Island (2017).
The first half of Humint is uncharacteristically cautious as it methodically establishes its premise and players in the slow-burning manner of old Cold War spy dramas.
Just as proceedings are threatening to become dreary, however, the film gloriously kicks into gear, erupting into breathless non-stop action as protagonists Zo and Park are thrown together in a desperate alliance that plays like a delirious love letter to John Woo Yu-sum’s finest bullet ballets.

Viewers with the patience to sit through a deliberately paced hour of shady encounters in dingy nightclubs and snow-driven back alleys will be richly rewarded by a second half showcasing some of the best heroic bloodshed in recent memory.
Humint is streaming on Netflix.
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Starring Zo In-sung, Park Jeong-min and Park Hae-joon, Humint rewards patient viewers with some of the best heroic bloodshed in recent times


Starring Zo In-sung, Park Jeong-min and Park Hae-joon, Humint rewards patient viewers with some of the best heroic bloodshed in recent times.


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An assessment or critique of a service, product or creative endeavour.  Film reviews, restaurant reviews, reviews of art exhibitions. (Eg. Crazy Rich Asians: an important film, yes, but a good one?)


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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Starring Zo In-sung, Park Jeong-min and Park Hae-joon, Humint rewards patient viewers with some of the best heroic bloodshed in recent times

Starring Zo In-sung, Park Jeong-min and Park Hae-joon, Humint rewards patient viewers with some of the best heroic bloodshed in recent times