I just finished watching one of Netflix’s latest releases, ‘Time to Hunt’, and I enjoyed it! Another movie to add to your watchlist while you’re also in quarantine.
We almost missed the opportunity of seeing this South Korean 2020 film because of some court ruling cases back there but I’m glad it was settled and ‘Time to Hunt’ got to premiere on Netflix last April 23.
But before you go on, let it be known that there’s spoiler ahead. If you haven’t watch ‘Time to Hunt’ yet, I suggest that you stop reading this and head on to my other feature articles. Otherwise, let’s proceed.
Yoon Sung-hyun’s film is set on a dystopian society where Korean won currency plunged at its lowest and ‘drugs and alcohol’ are prevalent.
Four young adults, Jun-seok (Lee Je-hoon), Jang-ho (Ahn Jae-hong), Ki-hoon (Choi Woo-shik), and Sang-soo (Park Jeong-min) staged a heist on a gambling house and stole stacks of US dollar currencies stashed inside one of the house’s vault. It was a successful heist and the gang-of-four was about to leave the country, specifically in Taiwan, where they can settle and enjoy their prized loot.
It didn’t end that way. A hired-killer, named ‘Han’ (Park Hae-soo), was sent to track down the masked thieves and were able to hunt them one by one, even killing the man who provided them the ammunitions they used in the heist.
The film’s kinda slow at the start but as soon as the heist began, the action’s non-stop.
There’s some kind of a mystery that surrounds with the character of Han. He seems to know exactly when and where to find Jun-seok and his group.
Eventually, Han caught up with the quartet.. First, he killed Sang-soo off-screen. That was kindly evident when we saw Han on the next scene and he has Sang-soo’s phone to track Jun-seok.
The rest is a cat-and-mouse chase full of gun firing and suspense adrenaline.
Over-all this movie looks good on-screen visually. The cinematography and location setttings captured the dark and gritty scenario of what a dystopian world looks like.
The story also screams off with social commentaries and the low-class versus the high-class disparities.
The acting are awesome too. Woo-shik’s performance in ‘Time to Hunt’ alienates him from his ‘Parasite’ character. Which is also a great film, by the way.
So how did I come up with the idea that ‘Time to Hunt’ has the ‘Terminator’ vibe into it?
I think Han was sent (or he did it by himself) from the future to look and hunt for his younger self because of the repercussions it caused after the gambling house heist. Maybe, Jun-seok became ruthless and violent and ‘Han’ needs to atone for his sins from the future. If my hunch is correct, I don’t know how they’ll gonna pull this off.
The clues are right in front of us.
First, Han looks almost the same with the young Jun-seok. They sport the same haircut style. Han’s just older.
Second, when Han cornered Jun-seok, he did not kill him on the spot when he had the chance. He lets go Jun-seok and gave him a 5-minute lead to escape before he hunts them down again.
Next, when Jun-seok asked what Han wants, the hired-killer told him it’s not about the money. He said he already got what he wanted.
Fourth, Han wears an almost similar military-styled trench coat like what a Terminator used to wear in the franchise.
Fifth, it was clear that Han didn’t die from the ambush when he fell to the open water on the harbor chase. So, something’s about to happen when ‘Time to Hunt’ goes back for a sequel.
Sixth, the friend who visited Jun-seok in his Taiwan sanctuary mentioned that Han is still alive and the names he’s using are aliases. Probably, it’s Han’s way to hide his true identity.
Seventh, Jun-seok practiced his gun skills and promises to get back in South Korea to avenge his murdered friends. That will probably takes place in the sequel. So, Jun-seok’s getting good with his guns. Like Han?
My theory is when he gets back on South Korea, he’ll become a very powerful and violent gang leader. He’ll be a dangerous man and will kill many people as he gets older.
Maybe in the future, Jun-seok and his friends did not die but instead became notorious after the heist.
Also in the future, Jun-seok might have gone to hate himself and promised to set things right from where it all began. The day of the heist. I don’t know exactly how the time travel is going to happen here. Or maybe, he’ll die in the future and he will meet some sort of a supernatural being who will grant him a chance to redeem himself before he’s accepted in the after-life.
Or maybe, there’s a time machine that he’s going to use in the future to transport him back in that dystopian period.
This is possible since the settings is in the distant future and anything can happen with technology. Though, I’m not saying that the Han from the future could be a cyborg.
One final theory. The future Jun-seok now known as Han might be stuck in a time loop of sorts and it won’t stop until he change his younger self.
Wait. That last one’s too ridiculous.
Anyways, grab your popcorn and enjoy this two-hour long action-thriller ride from Netflix.
Tell me about your own theory for the sequel of ‘Time to Hunt’ in the comment section.
