“Devils” is a fast-paced action-thriller film about a homicide cop hunting down a serial killer and his gang. The story is about a maniac who enjoys killing people and does not seem to possess any other human emotion, and a cop is determined to get information out of him and put him behind bars. The cop Jae-hwan is ready to go to any extreme, even take up illegal methods, to get what he wants. This article contains spoilers.
Devils (2023) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The movie opens with homicide detectives chasing a serial killer. Officer Seung-hyun reaches the hideout without waiting for his partner. He is ambushed, stabbed, and left to die. His partner arrives, and Seung-hyun tells him that there are four people involved in these murders. Jae-hwan gets an anonymous tip about the serial killer Jin-hyuk’s (leader of the serial killer gang) location. The police get ready and leave. Jae-hwan tells Min-seong to be careful and asks him to make a move after him.
They arrive at the location to find him cutting open a dead body. Jin-hyuk sees the cops and runs. Jae-hwan and Min-seong chase him. Jin-hyuk gets into a car and drives away. Min-seong drives another car and takes Jae-hwan with him, and they chase. The cops get an excellent opportunity and accelerate in front of Jin-hyuk’s car, making it crash. Jin-hyuk manages to get out of the car and make a run, and the cops follow. Jae-hwan is falling behind, unable to keep up with Jin-hyuk, but Jin-hyuk reaches the end of a slope and hesitates. Jae-hwan takes this chance and jumps right on top of him, making them both tumble down.
The other cops are behind them, as it is a forest area with a vast terrain. Min-seong calls out to Jae-hwan, but there is no response, and by then, the other cops arrive at the location as well, looking for Jae-hwan. They realize that they have lost both Jae-hwan and Jin-hyuk, and the cops begin a search operation on Jae-hwan on priority. Many days pass, but there’s no sign of Jae-hwan. The cops set up a camp nearby to look for Jae-hwan. Jae-hwan’s wife and daughter visit the base, and the lead officer comforts them by saying they will find Jae-hwan soon. Many months pass by, but still there’s no sign of Jae-hwan.
The officers were called back as the killings are still ongoing. Jae-hwan’s family is devastated hearing this. One day, a car comes crashing at the police station, and inside, the cops find Jae-hwan and Jin-hyuk. Both of them seem hurt and not conscious, and they are sent to the hospital immediately. Jin-hyuk wakes up and sees he is tied to the hospital bed. He wonders what is happening as he is Jae-hwan in Jin-hyuk’s body. Meanwhile, Jin-hyuk is in Jae-hwan’s body and is free. He looks at himself and is pleased.
Jae-hwan (in Jin-hyuk’s body) tries to talk to the cops, but they look at him as a criminal. He confides the truth with Min-seong, who needs clarification. Subsequently, he tries different tactics to find out if Jin-hyuk (in Jae-hwan’s body) is Jin-hyuk. He believes in Jae-hwan’s (in Jin-hyuk’s body) words but is not entirely sure. Jin-hyuk (in Jae-hwan’s body) visits Jae-hwan (in Jin-hyuk’s body) and makes a deal. He tells him he had to tell everything about his life, and only then he wouldn’t harm his wife or daughter. Jae-hwan (in Jin-hyuk’s body) is pressurized and starts telling his life story.
Jin-hyuk (in Jae-hwan’s body) starts to play that role at work and home. The detectives ill-treat Jae-hwan (in Jin-hyuk’s body), and it’s said he would be sent to a detention center. There, he hurts himself and escapes the center. Then, he finds Jin-hyuk (in Jae-hwan’s body) living happily with his family. He reaches out, and Jin-hyuk (in Jae-hwan’s body) gives him a cell phone and tells him that he is borrowing his body and in a fortnight, if Jae-hwan (in Jin-hyuk’s body) can bring the other three members to him, then he would give back his body. Furthermore, he gives Jae-hwan (in Jin-hyuk’s body) a clue as to where to find the first person. Jae-hwan (in Jin-hyuk’s body) takes Min-seong’s help and finds an older man.
Jae-hwan (in Jin-hyuk’s body) and Min-seong torture him and get him to confess everything he and his other partners in crime had done on camera. The older man also gives a clue as to where to find the next person. Min-seong gradually believes Jae-hwan (in Jin-hyuk’s body) and helps him. Jin-hyuk (in Jae-hwan’s body) visits the older man and tells him their body was swapped. He is perplexed. Jae-hwan (in Jin-hyuk’s body) goes to his next destination and messages Min-seong to meet him there. The next person is a more challenging opponent.
They start to fight, and Jae-hwan (in Jin-hyuk’s body) is caught. He is hanged upside down, and this person doesn’t know that the body was swapped. In fact, he tells Jae-hwan (in Jin-hyuk’s body) that he would treat him like he would treat his other murder victims. He starts to cut his leg. Jae-hwan’s (in Jin-hyuk’s body) memory is mixed with Jin-hyuk’s. We cut to a flashback now, and we see Jae-hwan and Jin-hyuk when they were separated from the cops. Jae-hwan decides to take a rogue method to get information out of Jin-hyuk.
He takes him to a remote place and starts torturing Jin-hyuk but gets nowhere. He even gives him shock treatment, but Jin-hyuk does not say anything. Jin-hyuk tells Jae-hwan that he is in a position where he can manipulate him and starts to bite his tongue, and Jae-hwan stops him. He laughs like a devil seeing Jae-hwan’s plight.
Jae-hwan secretly visits his colleague and informs him that Jin-hyuk is a devil, and no method works. The colleague gives him a technique that’s banned, which the CIA had used, and gives him a lot of liquids like morphine to help. Jae-hwan uses this method, and Jin-hyuk slowly starts talking. Jae-hwan plants an idea in Jin-hyuk that he is Jae-hwan, and he has to find the other three members. This was the extent of the body-swapping, an idea planted while Jae-hwan and Jin-hyuk had their bodies. In the present, Jae-hwan continues to act as if he were Jin-hyuk. In the present, Jin-hyuk remembers everything and kills his other partner.
Min-seong visits the area and comforts Jin-hyuk, whom he assumes to be Jae-hwan. Jin-hyuk laughs and reveals the truth to Min-seong before killing him. The police find the bodies, and Jae-hwan meets Jin-hyuk, but Jin-hyuk pretends to be still drugged and plays with Jae-hwan. He agrees to find the last member, Yo-han. Jin-hyuk visits Yo-han, but Yo-han has already called Jae-wan. Jin-hyuk attacks Yo-han and takes him to the van, where the older man is tortured. Jae-hwan finds them there. Jin-hyuk asks for his body back, and Jae-hwan plays music. Subsequently, Jin-hyuk starts laughing and tells him he has got his memories back. Moreover, Jin-hyuk tells him how he killed his brother Seung-hyun. This angers Jae-hwan.
Devils (2023) Movie Ending Explained:
Did Jae-hwan’s Pursuit of Justice Lead to His Downfall?
Jin-hyuk and Jae-hwan fight, but Jin-hyuk has an injection ready and manages to inject Jae-hwan. The other cops find the van. Jae-hwan is struggling, and Jin-hyuk orders Yo-han to kill Jae-hwan and tells Jae-hwan that Yo-han now thinks Jae-hwan is Jin-hyuk. He also tells him that he had made a mistake by acting in front of everyone, and now he would live as Jae-hwan. He gets out and tells the cops that he was Jae-hwan and remembers everything Jae-hwan had told him about his life.
The cops are confused, and Jae-hwan gets out and asks the cops to believe him. Jae-hwan takes a knife to stab Jin-hyuk, but the cops ask him to put it away. He does not listen and begins to strike but is shot by his team leader. He does not let it stop him, and he continues to stab Jin-hyuk, and the cops fire at Jae-hwan one more time. Eventually, he manages to kill Jin-hyuk, and the cops check Jae-hwan to see that he is still alive and call the ambulance.
“Devils” does a thorough job from the beginning by keeping it fast-paced. It does not waste time trying to build suspense, which worked with “Devils.” Jae-hwan fell into his trap in the end without thinking about the consequences. Jin-hyuk used Jae-hwan’s hypnotic/brainwashing technique against him. Jae-hwan could have easily told the truth to the other cops and his family instead of putting them at risk, but he was flawed. We don’t get to see that the colleague who helped Jae-hwan did not come forward to help Jae-hwan and arrest Jin-hyuk.
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Trailer:
