Film

Deliver Us from Evil

Name: Deliver Us from Evil
Genre: Crime, Action, Drama
Released: 2020
Cast: Hwang Jung-min, Lee Jung-jae, Park Jeong-min, Moon Choi, Oh Dae-hwan

Other titles called Deliver Us from Evil: the 2006 film, the 2014 film.

Vigilante
Action
Very dark
Relentless

A Korean revenge thriller where a retired assassin emerges from hiding to rescue a child from human traffickers. Brutal, propulsive, and uncompromising—it earns every drop of blood it spills. For viewers who want their action films morally serious and their violence consequential, not decorative.

TMDb rating

3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy hard-edged crime thrillers built around a weary professional's cold competence, where the violence lands with weight rather than style.

Skip it if you want lighter company, since the subject is child trafficking and the violence is unsparing, so it can feel draining rather than exhilarating.

What it asks of you: A long, deliberate build at just over an hour and a half, dark in tone and patient with a single man's worn routine before the bloodshed takes over.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

John Wick2014

Keanu Reeves as a retired killer pulled back into violence by a personal transgression. Elegant gun choreography, a world with its own rules, and a moral clarity that justifies the body count.

But If you find shootout sequences repetitive or find the premise (revenge over a dog) thinly motivated despite the execution.

The Wailing2016

Another Korean film about violence in response to evil, but one that refuses easy answers. Bewildering, brilliant, and lingers long after the credits. A genuine masterpiece that explores the cost of certainty.

But Nearly three hours, deliberately ambiguous, and demands active interpretation. It will frustrate you if you want clean resolution.

Oldboy2003

Park Chan-wook's masterwork of revenge and discovery. Visually inventive, structurally audacious, and morally complex in ways that remake the genre. The corridor fight alone is worth your evening.

But Genuinely disturbing in places, with a twist that divides audiences. The violence is not cathartic—it's corrosive.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Deliver Us from Evil

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Come True2020

Like Deliver Us from Evil, a story where protection of a vulnerable youth drives the narrative, but here told through dreamlike abstraction rather than action—same moral imperative, inverted in every other way.

Science fiction horror about a homeless teenager in a sleep study. Visually stunning, deeply unsettling, with a synth score that becomes its own character. A film about violation and the body that borders on transcendent.

But Slow, oblique, and resists plot clarity. The ending divides viewers sharply between rapture and frustration.

The Night Comes For Us2018

Indonesian action film with fight choreography so precise it becomes balletic. A criminal helping a child escape her captors. Breathtaking and specific, made by people obsessed with the craft of combat.

But Plot is secondary to action sequences, which demands you accept long stretches with minimal dialogue or story momentum.

I Saw the Devil2010

Lee Byung-hun as an intelligence officer stalking a serial killer. Korean genre filmmaking at peak intensity—a cat-and-mouse game where both hunter and hunted become corrupted by obsession.

But Extremely graphic violence that serves thematic purpose but never gets easier to watch. The length (over two hours) may feel excessive for the psychological point being made.

The Man from Nowhere2010

Won Bin as a former special forces operative protecting a child from traffickers and gang violence. Methodical, melancholy, with action sequences that feel earned and consequential rather than spectacle.

But The pacing is deliberately slow in stretches, and the emotional core depends on your patience with quiet scenes between the violence.

Sympathy for the Devil: The True Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment2015

Kim Hye-soo in a revenge thriller where a taxi driver becomes instrument of violence. More interested in psychology than action, with an excellent female lead and unexpected tonal shifts.

But The narrative framing can feel gimmicky, and the film seems uncertain whether it wants to be thriller or character study.

Sympathy for the Devil: The True Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment poster

Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days2018

Korean action-fantasy about a firefighter's redemption after death. Epic in scope, unexpectedly heartfelt, with set pieces that dwarf most Hollywood productions. Visual spectacle married to genuine feeling.

But Nearly two and a half hours, and the fantasy elements may feel at odds with the emotional realism it's reaching for. Needs investment in metaphysical stakes.

Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days poster

The Handmaiden2016

Park Chan-wook again—a con artist thriller set in 1930s Korea with extraordinary craft. If you want to see a director operating at the height of formal mastery, this is that film.

But Three-act structure and genre shifts can feel disorienting. If you prefer straightforward narrative, the playfulness may read as manipulation.

Mississippi Burning1988

Both films feature men who commit violence in response to the predation of a vulnerable person, but Burning complicates the justice of that impulse, asking whether certainty justifies action—the inverse of Deliver Us from Evil's moral clarity.

Lee Chang-dong's adaptation of Haruki Murakami. A young man, a woman, and a wealthy stranger form a triangle of desire and mystery. The slowest burn in cinema—glacial pacing, ambiguous menace, a final act of devastating violence.

But Two hours forty-eight minutes that moves like deep water. Long passages with almost nothing happening. If you need momentum or clarity, it will exhaust you.