When 7 year old Mi-rim (Cho Min-ah) disappears in a seemingly peaceful little town it ignites the desire of two men in a race against time to find her. Director Park Soo-young brings us this drama thriller straight from South Korea. A suspect soon emerges in the disappearance of Mi-rim as newly arrived and convicted pedophile Se-Yin’s (Lee Jung-jin) criminal record is leaked to the town. Se-Yin has moved to this little town with his sister and mother to start a fresh, and sincere life and get away from his troublesome past. Word that a convicted pedophile has moved into the region sets the entire town up in arms especially from Mi-Rim’s father Choong-Sik (Kim Tae-woo) who has turned into a vigilante determined to make Se-Yin pay for what happened to his daughter. At the same time, Chief Detective Baek (Jung In-gi) sets out to find justice even if some of his decisions prove controversial.
“No Doubt” is a film whose plot leaves audiences struggling with the dilemma of whether to use the existing evidence and what information is known in this disappearance to draw their own conclusion of who is right and who is wrong, or whether they should assume someone is guilty based on a dark past; here-say versus evidence. Choong-Sik and the town are so convinced that the criminal is Se-Yin that they make living for Se-yin and his family a living hell. Chief Baek is family man and struggles between convicting Se-yin of a crime due to his hatred for pedophiles and the logic and clues that point him in a different direction as a man of the law. The film obscures details that are revealed little by little as to what really happened to Mi-rim through the different flashbacks presented through the eyes of many.
Lee Jung-jin does a great job in portraying a remorseful and shameful Se-yin that the audience, even knowing he is a convicted pedophile, cannot help but feel sorry for him thus in the process the film turns Choong-Sik into a villain while portraying Se-yin as a victim of intolerance and discrimination. In this way, Se-yin becomes a very likeable character. “No Doubt” plays with our minds and makes us ask ourselves how much of a world of intolerance, prejudice and discrimination we still live in, and how sometimes things are not what they appear to be and how quickly we are to judge. It was very enjoyable to see that aspect and how the editing controls in what direction or directions to move the audiences perspective on what is reality. The film contains some graphic material but still a great movie to watch.
NEXT SCREENING AT SBIFF: Wednesday February 2, 2:00 PM at the Lobero Theater; Friday February 4, 8:15AM at Metro 4 Theater IV
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