The Prison is a South Korean thriller that convinces with great acting performances, profound characters and sinister settings. It tells the story of a former detective who ends up in a prison controlled by an influential criminal who organizes blackmail, murder and theft inside and outside the prison walls. The former detective gains the criminal's trust when he protects him from an influential politician and an uprising organized by some jealous inmates. However, it turns out that the detective is on a dangerous undercover mission and trying to expose organized crime with the help of his journalist brother.
The intense movie that entertains from start to finish convinces on many levels. First of all, the main characters are particularly intriguing. The undercover cop is a courageous, intelligent and selfless person who can show his raw and rough side but also an empathizing and idealistic side. The wise main villain has a calm, diplomatic and intellectual side to convince other inmates to support him but he can become brutal, pitiless and relentless in order to keep his power. The clash between these two men is particularly interesting to watch. Both characters are played convincingly by an energetic Kim Rae-won and a truly diversified Han Suk-kyu. The settings of the movie are quite gloomy and add to the film's oppressive atmosphere. The film takes place in bare prison cells, dirty basements and dark streets that are occasionally blended and contrasted with beautiful gardens and shiny lofts.
The movie has a few minor downsides as well. The story takes too much time to get started as the first half of the movie basically only shows how the undercover cop is trying to gain the criminal's trust which becomes quite predictable and repetitive. The background stories of the characters are told in flashbacks which are sometimes randomly inserted and rather confusing the audience than solving the puzzle. The cop's relentless motivation to expose the criminal never becomes quite clear and it also remains a mystery how the criminal became so influential in the first place. The movie's conclusion was also somewhat odd and ended with a negative surprise related to the protagonist's fate.
In the end, you will enjoy The Prison for its outstanding acting performances, intriguing characters and great settings. The movie is overall lacking pace and precision to be more than just good as it doesn't exploit all of its promising potential. Fans of atmospheric crime flicks in general and Korean cinema in particular will still certainly like this film.
