A man’s life is shattered when his wife is murdered and his best friend is a key suspect. He now must work with that suspect’s wife to piece together the truth, despite the lack of trust between them.

The complexity of the relationship between Yeong-hun and Da-yeon, played by Song Sae-byeok and Yoo Sun, is what director Go Jung-wook said he was trying to depict in his upcoming mystery thriller “The Culprit.”

“(The movie) is a film that tries to tell a tale about having faith in other people in real life, within the format of the thriller genre. Rather than get caught up in sending a certain message, I wanted to convey the emotions that I felt when I was writing the script,” Go said Tuesday during a press conference.

He related a story about how an acquaintance once borrowed money from him and deliberately refused to pay it back, and how that had infuriated him. “I told my wife this, and she said, ‘You didn’t really trust him even though you said he was trustworthy.’ This got me thinking about the concept of faith, and led me to write the script for the film,” Go said.

According to the director, the interaction between the two leads and their emotions are the key to the film.

“Da-yeon is a person who risks everything to prove her husband’s innocence, and does her absolute best. I thought of what motivated her, and I thought it was her maternal instincts to protect the father of her child, rather than her love for her husband,” Yoo said.

Song said that while it was challenging to play his character, the power of the story captivated him. “It felt like something that could easily happen, and so did the lines,” he said.

The two actors have a reputation for creating memorable characters in dramas, and the director said that was the reason they were his No. 1 choices when he was casting the film.

“The Culprit” is scheduled to hit local theaters next month.


By Yoon Min-sik
(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)