Directed by Byung Sung-hyun, Kill Boksoon is a 2023 Korean gore-action film that quickly shot to No. 1 on Netflix charts worldwide. In the film’s world, assassins are professionals operating under multinational companies, and middle-aged Gil Bok-soon (Jeon Do-yeon) is MKent’s top-performing employee. She has a 100 percent kill rate, giving her the titular nickname, Kill Boksoon. However, Bok-soon leads a double life. At home, she is a single mother who must deal with her only daughter’s teenage angst and mercurial temperament.
Bok-soon’s already stressful work environment, coupled with a stressful home life, pushes her into a mid-life crisis. She questions every aspect of her life and ponders where she would like to go next. Here, the film’s absurd premise becomes a moving, human portrait of a working mother pushed around by society’s double standards. She works hard and is the best-performing employee, but is never considered a prospective CEO. At the same time, the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) at her daughter’s school questions if she is fit to be a mother at all because of her long working hours and status as a single woman.
Throughout the film, Bok-soon makes a bloody and action-filled journey into herself as an assertive woman who demands respect, in a world that judges her and even beats her up for having the audacity to be a self-sufficient working mother. This is why Kill Boksoon is relevant to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Gender Equality and Decent Work And Economic Growth.
Kill Boksoon explores multiple issues that affect working mothers. It shows how middle-aged women are seen as seen as less likable and rated worse than their counterparts despite their performance. They are also less likely to be listened to by their peers compared to their colleagues who are cis-men and have a harder time negotiating company benefits. A 2022 survey by CVS Health found that 42 percent of working mothers in the USA suffer from depression and/or anxiety. The leading causes of this are balancing work and family life, the lack of a supportive workplace as well as societal expectations and stigma.
The film does a great job of portraying Bok-soon’s inner turmoil and establishing her as a complex character. At the end of the day, she is able to listen to her own intuition and needs. Bok-soon prioritizes building a relationship with her estranged daughter, and goes on a knife-wielding battle with her company’s chairman. She promptly wins, opening up doors for better career opportunities that are more aligned with her goals. Here, Bok-soon is leading by example, showing other working mothers who have found themselves stretched thin by the patriarchy that there is hope if one fights for their seat at the table.
Find out more about Kill Boksoon and their other initiatives by checking their IMDb and their MUBI.