Parents' Guide to Ballerina (2023)

Writer-director Chung-Hyun Lee (The Call) crafts a taut and singularly focused revenge thriller, filled with explosive fighting, blood-soaked shootouts, and stylish action sequences. While these set pieces of violence in Ballerina (2023) accentuate and enliven the film's moody atmosphere and darkly lit staging, it's Jeon Jong-seo's Okju that grounds the film in a compelling avenger, even if she's a bit distant. With her moments of rage, vulnerability, and occasional happiness coming through in subtle facial expressions, little shivers of the eye, and flashes of emotion in her mannerisms, Okju's determination and perseverance are undoubted throughout, which also helps the believability of her skills in the killing-machine department.

Handily dispatching criminal grunts, she never comes across shaken in the heat of the fight, and her improvisation in the midst of battle is fun to watch. Her ability is never doubted, and this is harder to pull off than one might think, especially in the face of an army of organized criminals armed with mean mugs and sharp weapons. The only drawbacks are that Okju has absolutely no backstory. The film mentions that she didn't have any friends growing up and that she felt lost and sad before meeting her only friend in Minhee, but that's it. More development in this regard might have led to feeling more of a connection and relatability to Okju. Also, the avenging never feels like it won't happen, and this predictability slightly takes away from when it does happen, although, it remains satisfying enough.