A Shop For Killers Will Have You Trusting Absolutely No One
Lee Dong-wook and Kim Hye-jun lead A Shop For Killers as the mysterious uncle Jeong Ji-man and his niece Jeong Ji-an. After his apparent suicide, Ji-an uncovers the truth about her uncle and the life he’s hidden from her, running a dark website supplying weapons for criminals. Now, she’s hunted by a group of men who want her dead. Directed by Lee Kwon and Noh Gyu-yeob, this eight episode series is based on the novel The Killer's Shopping Mall by Kang Ji-young
How Ji-man raised Ji-an is central to the plot. This leads to the creative team focusing on the present day and then switching to a younger Ji-an and Jeong Ji-man and then back again. While it makes sense to explore how the past influences the future, it can lead to some confusing editing moments. The second episode fills that emotional basis by showing a young Ji-an being relentlessly bullied at school, ignored by her uncle, and suffering from aphasia. The flashback scenes that proceed in the episodes fill those gaps to move both Ji-an and Ji-man’s characters forward. We see how Ji-man tests Ji-an to properly hit him in the face if she wants to move out. Ji-an is put in these heightened test-like situations to successfully complete the task or end up failing each time. It’s an unusual relationship, but one that prepares her for what she’s dealing with now. Ji-an uses those skills to unlock more about her uncle and to fight off the men after her. It’s pretty amazing to watch.
The tension within those scenes will have you on the edge of your seat. Often, I found myself staring intensely at the screen to see what was going to happen next in those quiet moments. Tension drives the story further more than the action that takes place. You get to immerse yourself in the story and be shocked at the outcome. Whenever side characters are introduced, we don’t get their back stories until later in the series. It’s a refreshing change of pace because it gives the viewer a chance to examine this person’s actions and whether Ji-an should trust them. One reveal that was completely shocking was her old schoolmate Bea Jung-min (Ji-Ban Park) who seemed nice and helped Ji-an, but we don’t learn much about him until he betrays her. Most shows would reveal the truth about a character to the audience before it’s revealed to the protagonist, but this method changes everything about how you view the show.
The actors in this series deliver showstopping performances, especially Kim Hye-jun as her body language and facial expressions say more than words could. The editing of the show might seem frustrating as some episodes don't start off where the previous episode ended, but I don’t think it distracts from the main plot. The tension that prevails in a cat-and-mouse game with these characters that lets you absorb that intensity and become skeptical of everyone.
Dying to find out how this ends? A Shop For Killers is streaming on Hulu.
