A teenage girl is captured by a giant mutated squid-like creature that appears from Seoul's Han River after toxic waste was dumped in it, prompting her family into a frantic search for her.
Direction
Bong balances slapstick with genuine terror
Practical Effects
the creature's floppy amphibious chaos is chef's kiss
Acting
Song Kang-ho's dumb-dad energy is heartbreaking
Director
Bong Joon Ho
Song Kang-ho
Park Gang-du
Byun Hee-bong
Park Hie-bong
Park Hae-il
Park Nam-il
Bae Doona
Park Nam-joo
Ko A-sung
Park Hyun-seo
Oh Dal-su
The Monster (voice)
Lee Jae-eung
Se-jin
Yoon Je-moon
Homeless Man
Yim Pil-sung
Fat Guevara
Kim Roi-ha
Yellow Suit at Funeral
Koh Soo-hee
Hostage nurse
Kim Hak-seon
Civilian Military Kim
Scott Wilson
Douglas
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real Han River incident that inspired this: a US military mortician dumped 200 bottles of formaldehyde into the river in 2000. Bong read the article and thought 'monster movie.'
The monster was designed to look like a fish that 'hadn't finished evolving'—explaining its clumsy, almost pathetic movement that makes its violence more disturbing.
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