The Man from Nowhere (2010)

The Man from Nowhere 2010

7.6/10
A quiet stranger saves a child in this emotional revenge thriller

Admittedly, The Man from Nowhere can feel a bit derivative. A quiet and mysterious stranger befriending a child, and ending up enacting his revenge when the child gets kidnapped… It feels like writer-director Lee Jeong-beom took two certain film plots and stitched it together into one. But where the film lacks in original story, The Man from Nowhere makes up for it with style, with high-contrast, rainy, moody scenes that linger into the mystery to make the few brutal, excellently choreographed action sequences pop. It has familiar tropes, and the backstory becomes a bit predictable because of it, but The Man from Nowhere keeps a steady pulse on the beating heart of the film– the friendship that makes these familiar tropes hold heavier emotional weight.

Synopsis

An ex-special agent is involved in a convoluted drug ring drama. He has to save a drug smuggler's innocent daughter from being the victim of her parents' fight.

Storyline

Quiet pawnshop keeper Cha Tae-sik only has one friend: a child named So-mi. After So-mi is kidnapped, Tae-sik takes on a drug-and-organ trafficking ring in hopes of saving his only friend.

TLDR

Think Leon the Professional mixed with Taken.

What stands out

The ending.