Beasts Clawing At Straws is a stylish, dark & clever directorial debut from Kim Yong-hoon
Beasts Clawing at Straws focuses on multiple characters throughout its runtime. But out of all the cast, our main character is a bag of money. The story is told through different segments, each chapter introduces us to a new character and their story.
With so many characters getting the same amount of screen time, you would think Beasts Clawing at Straws would be an absolute mess. This ain’t the case at all, not only does the film make sense, you’re genuinely jaw-dropped at some of the reveals.
This is a unique, bleak and super stylish noir thriller. Beasts Clawing At Straws is also full of odd, dark humour. To be honest, it is very Coen Brothers and I mean that in the best possible way.
If you’re looking for the violence that used to come with gritty South Korean films, then you won’t find that in Beasts Clawing at Straws. It’s not that there isn’t any violence, there is plenty of it. There is still a satisfying kill-count but director/writer Kim Yong-hoon leaves it up to the sound design and FX department to deliver the death scenes, mainly off-screen.
This is an astonishing directorial debut which makes Kim Yong-hoon a name to watch out for. Yong-hoon’s previous work included stunt work on the great South Korean action/thriller/comedy Secretly Greatly. He is also listed for creative content contribution on 2012’s, The Thieves.
If you like, you can check out the trailer below but I would recommend not watching it at all. I have kept this review spoiler-free to try and give you the same viewing experience as myself. All you need to know is that it’s about a bag of money with multiple characters. Go watch it!
Beasts Clawing at Straws is available to stream on December 15th
Distributor – Artsploitation Films
Director – Kim Yong-hoon
Writer – Kim Yong-hoon
Cast – Jeon Do-yeon, Jung Woo-sung, Bae Sung-woo , Yun Yuh-jung, Jung Man-sik, Jin Gyeong, Shin Hyun-been, Kim Jun-han, Jung Ga-ram, Park Ji-hwan, Heo Dong-won, Bae Jin-woong, Jang Eui-don
As always, thanks for reading.
Words by GG
Founder/Owner/BigCheese @ Moviehooker
