Produced by Johnnie To and directed by Soi Cheang, the Hong Kong film “Accident” (2009) was a nifty little thriller. The Korean remake, with the English title “The Plot” (Seolgyeja, 2024) and starring Gang Dong-won, is a convoluted mess. Director Lee Yo-Sup, who also wrote the screenplay, concentrates on embellishing the inherently simplistic but intriguing premise of “Accident.” Resultantly, “The Plot” channels the appearance of a stylishly complicated thriller but eventually succumbs to its many knots of entanglement, leaving the bitter taste of confusion as the credits roll.
The Plot (Seolgyeja, 2024) Korean Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
Yeong-il (Gang Dong-won) is the leader of a hitman squad. However, this squad is different from usual assassins who carry out murders for their client. This particular team of ragtags has expertise in making the assassination look like an accident. Yeong-il is the one who focuses on designing the elaborate scheme that will make the kill look like an unfortunate series of events that causes the victim’s death. The team has Jackie (Lee Mi-sook), one of the oldest members of the gang and Yeong-il’s most trusted advisor. Jackie often helps in designing with her ideas. Then we have Wol-cheon (Lee Hyun-wook), a transvestite man who acts as the master of disguise. The last and youngest member of the team is Jeom-man (Tang Jun-sang).
This team used to have another member, Jjacknoon. Jjacknoon, along with Yeong-il and Jackie, was one of the founding members. Jjacknoon’s accidental death has made Yeong-il convinced of another rival organization — an organization Yeong-il likes to call ‘Cleaners.’ While being wary of this organization, Yeong-il gets another assignment. Joo Young-seon (Jung Eun-chae) contacts Yeong-il to kill her father, Joo Seong-jik. Seong-jik is a politician who is facing corruption charges. Seong-jik currently uses a wheelchair to get around, and his career is doomed. However, he is not ready to accept that. As a result, it is his daughter, Young-seon, who faces the brunt of the media scrutiny.
Yeong-il and his team are all set up for the assassination. They observe the everyday routine of Seong-jik and Young-seon. The goal is to find the correct time and place where an ‘accident’ could occur to Seong-jik. And Yeong-il eventually finds one. Each day, Seong-jik and Young-seon leave their office together, with Young-seon pushing her father’s wheelchair. And each day, without fail, a horde of media photographers and journalists surround and hound them. Yeong-il explains the plan to his team, highlighting they can only execute it on a rainy day.
So, the day it rains, they spring to action. The plan is simple. The assassination starts when Young-seon pushes Seong-jik down the ramp. Jeom-man will act as a photographer. He will excessively use the flash of the camera to temporarily blind Young-seon. This will force Young-seon to let go of her father. Seong-jik, with his chair, will roll down the end of the ramp, where a puddle will be created thanks to the heavy rain. Then, according to Yeong-il’s instructions, an electricity line will be switched on, which will end in the puddle, thus electrocuting Seong-jik via his metallic chair. This will look like an accident where Seong-jik’s electrocution will be down to the collective negligence of the media.
The plan is executed as Yeong-il envisioned it to be. However, there is one hitch. Jackie goes unresponsive during the process. Yeong-il tries to find her after the mission. He also asks Jeom-man to drive on a motorbike and look out for her. In a deserted bus stand, Yeong-il sees someone. But when he approaches, there is no one in the stand. That is the moment a bus loses its control and smashes into the stand. Yeong-il swerves in the nick of time. But, Jeom-man gets killed.
The Plot (Seolgyeja, 2024) Korean Movie Ending Explained:
Why Did Jackie Go Missing?
Jeom-man’s death makes Yeong-il consumed by paranoia. He starts to doubt Wol-cheon. The next day, he finds Jackie near Seong-jik’s death spot. After talking to Jackie, he realizes Jackie has been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Thus, memory loss is common to her. On that day, she simply forgot about her role. Meanwhile, Yeong-il keeps on checking Young-seon. He learns that Young-seon stands to earn a lot of money thanks to her father’s life insurance. Yeong-il becomes convinced that the insurance guy, Lee Chi-hyeon, is part of the Cleaners.
Why Did Yeong-il Kill Wol-Cheon?
Yeong-il keeps on tracking Young-seon, and he sees Wol-Cheon contact her. Wol-Cheon picks up the contracted money from her. Yeong-il becomes convinced that Wol-Cheon betrayed him. Despite Wol-Cheon’s continued protests, Yeong-il brands him as a traitor. Wol-Cheon tells Yeong-il that he has forgotten to trust his own people. He blames Yeong-il’s mistrust as the reason for Jjacknoon’s death. Yeong-il loses control in anger and kills Wol-Cheon. He initially looked to allow Wol-Cheon to live, but Wol-Cheon’s words made him change his mind.
Did the Cleaners Exist?
A convinced Yeong-il blames insurance agent Chi-hyeon for the killings. So, he orchestrates the assassination of Chi-hyeon. Just before his plan falls in place, he sees Chi-hyeon meet with a woman whom Yeong-il assumed to be from the Cleaners. However, it becomes clear that Chi-hyeon is not meeting any Cleaners members here. He is simply delivering insurance documents like an insurance agent would do. Yeong-il starts to doubt his theory. He runs to save Chi-hyeon but is not to be. Chi-hyeon dies in an ‘accident.’
A tormented Yeong-il goes to the investigative police officer, Kyeong-jin, and he confesses. Kyeong-jin informs him that Wol-Cheon has needed money for his mother’s hospital bills. Yeong-il realizes that he made a mistake there as well. Kyeong-jin refuses to take Yeong-il seriously. She confronts Yeong-il and tells him that he has been overly suspicious. These ‘cleaners’ never really existed. A flashback also confirms her theory.
It is a flashback of Yeong-il telling Jjacknoon he found a listening device in Jjacknoon’s room. But now we see Yeong-il himself planting that device. Jjacknoon was looking to leave Yeong-il and this assassination job. So, Yeong-il, perhaps subconsciously, came up with the idea of a bigger organization out there to get Jjacknoon and Yeong-il. “The Cleaners” seems to be Yeong-il’s figment of imagination that he created to stop Jjacknoon from leaving.
Did Yeong-il Die?
Now, “The Plot” tries to do a double-twist. After establishing that “The Cleaners” do not exist, it tries to change that. It gives us an open ending where the possibility of “The Cleaners” existing remains. We see Inspector Kyeong-jin suggestively placing a chess piece on her table. These chess pieces were used by Yeong-il when he wanted to plan his accident-kill. Kyeong-jin, placing the piece on her table, follows the scene in which a dejected Yeong-il walks towards a four-way crossing. Similar to the crossing where Jjacknoon died. If Kyeong-Jin is indeed part of the Cleaners, then we might be seeing Yeong-il walking towards his death. “The Plot” suggests that with the off-camera sound of cars screeching and hitting someone at the end.
![Paulie Go! [2022] Review – An Incredibly Entertaining Coming-of-Age Comedy](https://www.highonfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Paulie-Go-2022-768x431.jpg)
