Ballerina 2023

Okju, Jeon Jong-seo, a former bodyguard for VIP clients, is driven to vengeance when she learns that her best friend Park Yu-rim Min-hee has died by suicide after being trapped by sex trafficker Choi Pro, portrayed by Kim Ji-hoon. Min-hee was filmed and extorted, a cruel chain that finally breaks Okju’s sense of safety and justice.

Her search begins online, where she pinpoints Choi Pro’s address and quietly observes him as he sells drugs to a range of clients. Okju follows him from a distance, watching the routine of his days, and when he finally returns home, she slips inside to lay the groundwork for revenge. She plants listening devices around the space and uncovers a drawer filled with USB drives, each labeled with nicknames or descriptions. Among them, Choi Min-hee’s USB drive labeled “ballerina” reveals a chilling video of Choi assaulting an unconscious Min-hee, and the sight tears at Okju’s resolve. The memory of Min-hee’s fear and the brutal truth of what happened to her become a fire in Okju’s heart.

A few days later, Okju learns that Choi will be at Heaven, a nightclub that night. She heads there with quiet determination, and Choi approaches her with a smooth pickup line as Okju buys him a drink. The exchange is tense but controlled, and eventually they leave together, with Choi taking Okju to the hotel where Min-hee was filmed. The room hums with danger as Choi attempts to drug Okju, but she pretends to swallow the substance while turning the situation on its head. When he begins filming and the assault starts, Okju fights back, attempting to stab him. The struggle is brutal, and though she gains the upper hand, hotel staff intervene before she can finish the job. A high school student, Se-Hwi Shin, who had been kept at the hotel as a sex slave, helps Okju escape, and the two flee in Choi’s Lamborghini, the engine roaring into the night.

Back at the top of Choi’s world, the gang leader expresses disappointment in Choi, noting that while the gang trafficked in drugs and prostitutes, he never gave Choi permission to drug women or to produce “weird” pornographic films. The leader orders Choi to bring Okju to him within three days. Choi visits the pharmacist who makes the drug that renders victims unconscious and reveals to this reluctant partner that they will track Okju down; the pharmacist hesitates, but Choi promises him one hundred million won if he helps.

The next day, Okju reaches out to an old friend to procure weapons, preparing for the long hunt ahead. At the same time, Choi and the pharmacist track the stolen Lamborghini using a corrupt police contact, tightening the noose around Okju. That evening, Okju steps out for a routine errand at a convenience store, but when she returns, the high school student is gone, and Choi and the pharmacist ambush her. She narrowly escapes, slipping out the window to safety, the neon glow of the city watching.

Choi, fearing the truth will out, falsely tells the gang leader that he has killed Okju and buried her in the mountains. The leader commands Choi to kill the high school student who has witnessed too much, but instead Choi and the pharmacist torture the student to pry out Okju’s whereabouts. To find her, Okju infiltrates the hotel where she learns the base of operations for Choi’s gang. With a ruthless clarity, she eliminates every member who refuses to betray their knowledge, leaving the scene eerily quiet.

As she exits, the pharmacist arrives in a golf cart with the student’s body in the back. Okju considers her next move, but Choi appears and fires on her. The pharmacist, intent on collecting the promised money, declares he will kill Okju, but Choi shoots him in the head. The moment is chaotic: the high school student wakes, fires several shots at Choi, none of which land, but the distraction gives Okju the chance to strike. She shoots Choi multiple times, the weight of vengeance fueling every move.

Okju and the high school student drag Choi to the beach and burn him to death, a symbolic end to the cycle of coercion and cruelty. She then returns to Choi’s house, where she retrieves the USB drives containing the victims’ videos and discovers a notebook listing Choi’s customers. With the evidence in hand, she takes the notebook and drives off into the sunset, the weight of the truth now hers to bear and the road ahead open to whatever justice she can pursue.

In this relentless pursuit of vengeance, the film threads a stark, unflinching look at exploitation and power, showing how one woman channels grief into a calculated, dangerous mission. The quiet, determined code of Okju’s resolve contrasts with the chaos around her, creating a tense, emotionally charged thriller that lingers long after the credits roll.