Summary
A slick and engaging crime caper, buoyed by the ever-reliable presence of its core cast.
You may not immediately recognise Hwang Byeng-Gug’s name, despite his quarter-century of credits in the South Korean film industry. Often billed in supporting or additional cast roles, Hwang has also directed features like Wedding Campaign (2005) and SIU (2011). Yet with YADANG: THE SNITCH (야당), he delivers a solid crime thriller that stands comfortably alongside its contemporaries.
The ‘yadang’ of the title refers to underworld slang for criminals who provide information to authorities in exchange for reduced or commuted sentences. In this case, that’s Lee Kang-soo (Kang Ha-neul), falsely imprisoned but now operating as a slick snitch for ambitious Prosecutor Ku Gwan-hee (Yoo Hae-jin). As Ku climbs the political ladder thanks to Lee’s intel, drug squad detective Oh Sang-jae (Park Hae-joon) begins to suspect foul play. A complex game of intrigue plays out as the lives of all three men become increasingly entangled.
There’s a lot going on in Hwang’s film. You may feel like you’ve seen some of it before. You may also feel like it flashes back and forward so often you’re experiencing chronal displacement. Yet at its core, this is a familiar formula executed with confidence, with Hwang ably constructing a complex ecosystem that feeds on drugs and corruption. Between raves and orgies, forced captivity, raids, a second snitch in rich girl Uhm Soo-jin (Chae Won-bin), and multiple chases, there’s almost too much jostling for space in this crowded web.
Yet somehow it works, largely thanks to the three leads. Superstar Kang Ha-neul — perhaps most recently seen by international audiences in Squid Game Season 2 — plays his informant as a cocky huckster to charming effect. Likewise, the ever-reliable Yu Hae-jin seems to relish dancing around the edges of outright villainy.
Slickly shot by Lee Mo-gae (I Saw the Devil, Exhuma), Hwang ensures the action rarely lets up across the two-hour runtime, from the opening car smash to a mid-film sting operation that’s big enough to feel like a finale. When the actual climax arrives, it’s a clever gotcha moment that ties off some of the threads — even if not all of them are fully woven in.
While YADANG can comfortably stand alone, it’s easy to imagine this spinning out into a full franchise — albeit one that has already publicly aligned itself with law and order via an anti-drug partnership with the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency. Either way, Hwang and his team have laid the groundwork for a rich universe of characters we’d be happy to revisit.
2025 | South Korea | DIRECTOR: Hwang Byeng-Gug | CAST: Kang Ha-neul, Yoo Hai-jin, Park Hae-joon, Ryu Kyung-soo, Chae Won-been | DISTRIBUTOR: Plus M Entertainment, Well Go USA Entertainment | RUNNING TIME: 122 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 25 April 2025 (USA)
