As good as expected. Powerful performances, tense, good pace, very well shot, magnificent use of shadows and dark scenarios in line with the theme.

Koreans know how to tell the stories of their history. I would be so proud if Portugal was capable to do something similar with our rich history...

You know when they say that good intentions can go wrong? What if you can't actually tell if they went wrong? Who is to say what right and wrong is anyway? I wouldn't dare say I understood every little bit of history that was presented here (this is one of those cases where it makes sense, at least afterwards) to get into what the movie was about. Yes this is based on real characters and events - and yes it can be confusing to a degree.

Especially because of all the grey areas this covers. And power grabs and jealousy, rivalry and pure horror/fear inside ones mind. To at least a certain degree, things displayed here, would be things you'd attest or expect from North Korea(n goverment),not from the one in South Korea. But when not all is developed yet, when people have to go to the streets to protest for certain things and rights ... well things get and are complicated.

So this is very well made and really amazingly acted. If political thriller/drama is in your "playlist"/something you enjoy watching, this is definitely worth watching. Otherwise you may have issues with it and it's pacing ...

Out of the lucky 13 titles I watched (and reviewed) that were screened/streamed at the 2021 Glasgow Film Festival, this film (which was also my last viewing at the event) was one of my most anticipated, which led to me standing next to a man.

View on the film:

Book-ended by an announcement of the assassination having taken place,and real archive footage of the political fallout from President Park's death, co-writer/(with Ji-min Lee,who debuted as co-writer of the great The Age of Shadows (2016-also reviewed)) directing auteur Woo Min-ho reunites with cinematographer Nak-seon Go in unleashing a brittle, paranoid atmosphere.

Going to the heart of the KCIA over Park's final 18 days in power, Min-ho maps out the tectonic plates of power shifting with wonderful tracking shots down the corridors of Seoul and Washington, where sharp suits offer the lone dash of colour in a murky world.

Hovering over the ongoing rioting in wide-shots, Min-ho brings everything back down to Earth with brittle push-in shots closing in on Park's realisation that power is slipping out of his fingers.

Despite the ending being known, the writers uncoil razor-sharp tension,as Min-ho continues to build on his major theme of exploring corrupt systems in a thrilling script co-written by Ji-min, which spies on all of the characters with striking shades of grey that increasingly turn blood red,as deadly power-play games take place, for who will be the man standing next.