Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

I really enjoyed this film up until a certain point, that's when I somewhat lost sympathy for the main character. It's easy to figure it out too without me spoiling it. However over-all I did feel it was a well made film and maybe I just disagreed with the direction it took for just that 1 part, well maybe a few more as well. Seems also they may have set it up for a sequel considering the conclusion. Worth seeing if you like crime dramas and thrillers.

I'm so glad I finally watched this. This movie was F****** AWESOME. Yes the language is warranted. The acting was spectacular from every character- especially Yeo Jin Goo,I was already impressed with this child actor since The Moon Embraces the Sun and I Miss You, but he literally BLEW ME AWAY here. He covered every single emotional beat, every scene with the veteran actors (who themselves were freaking amazing) perfectly. I can't rave enough about the acting here.The story was a lot more than I expected. I thought this would be like Coin Locker Girl when it turned vengeful and just become a bloodbath but damn- Hwayi was way smarter than I thought. Some twists I saw coming, others made me pause and rewind.The monster analogy was very well done, the part where he just stared it down gave me chills.The cops really got the short end of the stick here but aside from that I loved the ending. Amazing movie all around. Seriously in my top 10 K thrillers.

one of the best movies i've seen in a while, even though the story is kind of preposterous. do Koreans ever make a bad movie? totally original idea for a movie and it really gets the blood pumping.the story is about a young boy about 4-5 years old who gets kidnapped for ransom by a gang of 5 men who police have dubbed "the day breakers", because they are so brazen. the whole gang is evil and the worst is the leader. so, they kidnap the boy from a really kind and rich couple, demanding money in return for the boy. they wind up keeping the boy, and he basically winds up with 5 unsavory father figures and he calls all five father.sound original enough..., sounds like a good premise for a really good comedy? not! fast forward 12 years and hes a teen now, but during all the time that has gone by, they teach and make him do a lot of bad things, with the final lesson being the act of killing somebody. during all this time they commit a lot of crimes and kill a lot of people. the cops are hot on their heels, but there is a mole in the department helping them out and they always never get caught.on their latest job they have to rub out a couple who refuse to move out of their house and make way for that whole stretch of area to be modernized by crooked developers. as a last ditch effort they hire the gang to rub out the couple and thats all i'm writing about the movie, because it gets really juicy from there on out, practically leaving me breathless.i would consider this a action drama thriller on speed, the movie takes you and wraps you around its story and you are just engrossed and can't wait to find out what happens next. production values are as good or better then Hollywood, and the action was top-notch with some MMA moves thrown in besides the gun-play and the explosions and car chases.the pace of the movie is excellent, it was neither to fast or to slow, plus there never was a dull moment. it is hard to explain, but this genre of movie when it is done right gives you such a feeling of satisfaction after taking the journey to the end. went in to the movie not knowing what to expect and watched a really really solid all-around movie. i would give this movie at least a 7.the title of the movie is "monster boy", because he literally in the dark thinks he sees this monster that is beside him waiting to do harm to him. i can't figure it out yet, but the title is somehow perfectly related to the movie and has a deeper meaning.great watch and definitely a first option movie. go and watch this movie, its really well done even though the story is kinda far-out, you will wind up rooting for the boy.

Since nobody has reviewed the movie yet, I thought I could share my impressions about this EXCELLENT movie.First of all, I must admit that it had been quite a long time since I hadn't seen a good Korean movie, thus I was a bit skeptical at first. Fortunately, I immediately got absorbed in the movie. The actors are perfectly chosen, especially Jin-gu Yeo (Hwayi) who makes me think of Byung hun lee.Now one of the few things I was afraid of was pointless conversations that don't add anything to the story except making it boring. But I'm glad to say there weren't any, and I enjoyed every single minutes of the movie from the beginning to the end. Moreover, I found the fighting scenes really well performed, it was so realistic that I jumped with fright a few times. As far as the story is concerned, it is thrilling, credible and touching.In short, if you haven't view it yet, I strongly advise you to watch it, you won't be disappointed! 10/10