Content Advisory: Excessive or gratuitous violence
A homicide detective finds his body switched with a sadistic serial killer in Devils. Jae-hwan (Oh Dae-hwan) has spent the last two years on the trailer of the sadistic serial killer Jin-hyuk (Kim Sang-yoon), who along with his three accomplices have been killing and dismembering women for dark web snuff films. Jae-Han finally tracks Jin-hyuk down and chases the killer off a cliff, with both not being seen again for over a month. When Jae-hwan wakes up in hospital, he is shocked to find that he was swapped bodies with Jin-hyuk!
Devils Synopsis
Devils is the feature debut for South Korean writer and director Kim Jae-hoon. Starring Oh Dae-hwan (Deliver Us from Evil) and Kim Sang-yoon (Project Wolf Hunting), the plot is a twist on the body-swapping premise previously used in such films such as Face/Off and Freaky. Fearing the safety of his family, Jae-hwan is forced to do the wishes of the serial killer Jin-hyuk, while occupying the killer’s body.
My Thoughts on Devils
One one hand, Devils is played out as a deadly serious crime thriller with a very sadistic level violence, particularly the florescent lit prologue, where the protagonist Jae-hwan’s brother-in-law becomes collateral damage of the serial killer Jin-hyuk. On the other hand, the film utilizes a body-swap premise, which the characters themselves acknowledge is beyond the realm of believability. This leads to a third act plot twist, told in extended flashback, which gives an incredibly stupid explanation for the “body swap,” which practically ends up derailing the entire film. It’s a shame, because Devils otherwise showed some promise.
