The Spy Gone North is a 2018 South Korean spydrama film directed by Yoon Jong-bin. It stars Hwang Jung-min, Lee Sung-min, Cho Jin-woong and Ju Ji-hoon. The film is loosely based on the true story of Park Chae-seo, a former South Korean agent who infiltrated North Korea's nuclear facilities. The film was released in theaters on August 8, 2018.
Plot
The story follows a South Korean spy who infiltrates the North to obtain intelligence on the country's nuclear weapons plans in the mid-1990s.
The film made its world premiere in 2018 Cannes Film Festival. It released theatrically in South Korea on August 8, 2018, with age 12-rating. The film was sold to more than 100 countries, and was released theatrically in North America on August 17, 2018. The Spy Gone North was released on VOD by CJ E&M on September 13, 2018.
Reception
Critical response
On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, The Spy Gone North has an approval rating of 100% based on 14 reviews and an average rating of 6.8/10. On Metacritic, the film received average score 69 out of 100 based 6 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Charles Bramesco of The Guardian rated the film 3 out of 5 and said, "Yoon executes all the classic double-agent set pieces with finesse, and those enamoured of the genre will appreciate a change of setting." Maggie Lee of the Variety wrote, "Instead of the usual dose of action and suspense one expects of this genre, watching this dense 140-minute political drama unfold is like fumbling through a long tunnel that’s nonetheless worth it when the ray of light emerges at the end." Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter said the film "is a stylish, blood-pounding thriller of the type Asian cinema is so good at making...For sheer topicality, the film is hard to beat, and to find a full-blown entertainment yarn in Cannes' midnight section that's partially set in newsworthy North Korea is rather astounding."
Box office
The film finished second during its opening week behind , with gross over five days screening. On its second weekend, the film finished second behind The Witness, with a 45% drop in gross to. After finishing second for two consecutive weekends, the film placed third during its third weekend, behind On Your Wedding Day and The Witness. It had a 59% drop in gross, earning from 317,447 attendance. On August 28, 2018, the film reached its break-even point with 4.7 million audience members having watched the film. During its fourth weekend, the film had a 74% drop in gross compared to its third weekend, finishing at seventh place with 86,336 attendance. The film stable on seventh place during its fifth weekend. As of September 24, 2018, the film grossed from 4,970,004 total attendance.
