Smugglers 4K 2023 Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

The 1970s, the coastal town of Guncheon. After deciding to salvage contraband from the seabed, a group of female divers soon attracts the attention of the local customs chief. He organizes a raid, during which a terrible accident occurs; the girls who are caught are sentenced to prison, and only Cho Chun-ja manages to escape. Two years later, while smuggling in Seoul, Chun-ja comes to the attention of an influential and dangerous rival—Sergeant Kwon—and makes him an offer he can’t refuse: to smuggle cargo not through the Port of Busan, but through Gangneung. But to do so, she’ll have to mend fences with her old crew, who are convinced that it was Chung-ja who ratted them out two years ago.

Review 4K Movie

After a chemical plant steals their jobs, rendering the fisherwomen well...out of fish to catch, they indulge in smuggling to meets ends. A gang of 6 women who are expert sea divers start fishing out smuggled goods and their popularity lands them on a bigger hunt. As this dive goes south, both personal loss and betrayal break the women, as one of them escapes while the rest get arrested. Years later, they once again meet for another Fortune but this time more harsh truth gets revealed. How they get their revenge on the ones responsible forms rest of the story.

Setting the story in the 70s, the retro feel is well captured. However, the funky music as well as the cinematography ensures a humorous narrative, the emotional scenes however don't gel well with it. This takes time to get used to the proceedings. Also, a team of six yet only two get full fledged roles which stuck out as a sore thumb. Add to that, the women power initiative leads to the male characters predictable character arc which undermined the reveal.

But to speak of positives, Kim Hye-Soo and Yum Jung-ah single handedly carry this film, making the drama work. Then there is the action sequences, pre-climax and the terrific underwater climax action which instantly made this a paisa vasool watch. The non-linear narrative, going back and forth to make multiple reveals elevated the drama even if the reveals were to be predictable. The whole double cross, triple cross sequence was fun throughout. It is indeed the second half that saves the film, firmly aided by the performances of the duo female leads and the two action sequences.