“The Old Woman with the Knife” (2025) is a South Korean movie that adapts Byeong-mo’s novel and starts in 1975 before fast forwarding to contemporary times then bouncing between timelines to show how a sixteen-year-old Soel-hwa Min (Si-ah Shin) became Nails then Hornclaw (Hye-young Lee), a legend who took a sacred job to eradicate human vermin. Think the Equalizer except with a guaranteed death sentence for her target. As she gets older, it is harder to complete the job. When a new guy, Bullfight (Sung-cheol Kim), joins the secret organization that she helped found, it is more proof that times are changing and not for the better. Should Hornclaw, which means claws of a beast, give up or should she live up to her ideals? Watch this movie now!
Lee is my Tom Cruise. The sixty-two-year-old actor is an action star and is a restrained expressive, emotional actor when the fighting stops. Every move that she makes is iconic, and most younger people could not do a fraction of what she does. Lee’s physicality, demeanor and styling makes her seem like a killer while still unassuming enough to fly under the radar. It would take an observant person to notice how she is fit. When “The Old Woman with the Knife” gives glimpses into Hornclaw’s mind there is no way to let her appearance fool you. She is a stone-cold killer of the Bourne variety. Everything is a weapon, and when she actually has one in her hand, the possible victim only recognizes it when she permits it. Her knife looks like a hair pin, and when she finally busts out firearms, you are in for a treat.
Of course, Lee could not do her job without Shin setting the stage. Shin conveys her character’s transformation from unassuming, vulnerable young woman to having enough fire to fight back against one assailant then invoke and recall that power at will against one target again, again and again with great effort. When Hornclaw appears, she kills with ease, but her body is beginning to betray her, and it may be time to stop working. Can Hornclaw find that extra motivation within her again to overcome her limitations when it is reasonable to just let nature take its course and stick to her routine? If Min did it and became Nails, then Hornclaw has the capacity, but there is that question of how Nails leveled up to become Hornclaw. “The Old Woman with the Knife” has perfect pacing and knows exactly how much to reveal, including mysteries that the audience is not even aware existed and need solving.
Hornclaw’s tenderness towards underdogs and hatred of bullies are all the motivation that she needs. One underdog is Dr. Kang (Woo-jin Yeon), a veterinarian who helps Hornclaw when she brings an injured dog in for treatment. The dog is just a microcosm of her inability to ignore a living being who needs help. The dog is also an imperfect foil for her, a wounded warrior who everyone is just waiting to die. Dr. Kang begins to play a large role in her life, and he makes her want to connect with other people. Dr. Kang’s life story endears him to Hornclaw. Yeon depicts the doctor as clever and kind, but never naïve. Kang is just sharp enough to realize that Hornclaw is dangerous, but not smart enough to teach his daughter about stranger danger.
While respectful of Hornclaw, Director Son (Kang-woo Kim), the head of the organization, does not share her values and seems to be diversifying the portfolio to include lucrative hits while denying those in need. There are other assassins besides Hornclaw. Son and the other members of the organization use the honorific Godmother to address Hornclaw, but Son needs a new person with a more flexible moral code that Godmother cannot influence to stick to the old mission statement.
Cue Bullfight, who seems to enjoy killing. He seems so fascinated with Hornclaw that it is possible that he deliberately made his kills flashy to attract Son’s interest. Even though Hornclaw always gets the drop on him, Bullfight taunts her for falling short of the person that he imagined. He observes her, and while it is easy to imagine why Bullfight is obsessed with her, the complete story is more complex than “The Old Woman with the Knife” teases. Kim plays a straight up psycho so when he projects indignation and anger when Hornclaw addresses him, it is hard to take his side even after his backstory is revealed. Still upon rewatch, it is easier to notice the nuanced performance and certain emphasis on casual phrases that superficially seem unimportant.
“The Old Woman with the Knife” is the gift that keeps on giving. While it uses familiar and even predictable scenarios, the narrative structure is complex enough to have unexpected twists and turns revealed at the point in the story when surprises should stop emerging. Director and cowriter Kyu-dong Min and cowriters Byeong-mo Gu and Dong-wan Kim understand the best way to use flashbacks because the story rarely repeats information. The flashbacks provide additional information or come from a new perspective. While the movie is perfect as is, a spin-off television series would be must-see television, especially if the creators and actors resumed their original positions. It is a world as rich as the “John Wick” franchise, but more realistic and accessible. The movie also looks sleek, especially the denouement scene, which has some astounding fight choreography reflecting that the filmmakers knew exactly where to place each fight so the moviegoers would be unprepared for the final act. While they could have done more to flesh out the bad players that cowed Son and allied with Bullfight, those flaws are not deal breakers. Probably a couple of scenes got lost on the cutting room floor.
“The Old Woman with the Knife” is not just a great action film featuring astounding ensemble performances, production values and complex narrative structure, but the underlying themes are deeper than expected. While the “John Wick” franchise uses revenge as the protagonist’s world-weary motivation, Hornclaw reassesses her values at twilight. She reflects on a lifetime of work and evaluates whether the world that she intended to create matches the reality that she experiences then finds the strength to keep fighting instead of resigning herself to failure. Wick’s backstory is made of legend, but her childhood is shown to us, and her legendary acts are glimpsed but not idealized. She does not yearn for death and peace because she never knew that life. She is forced to face the world as it is then judge it on her terms. Her origin story is more revolutionary than it seems. How does a young woman without resources, a family or validation learn how to fight back and have enough self-worth to find the world lacking in comparison instead of accepting its judgment of her?
If you thought “Thelma” (2024), a comedy, was good, but desire a film with an older protagonist who can square up against younger and stronger men, then “The Old Woman with the Knife” is the movie for you. Lee deserves to enter the pantheon of action greats, and hopefully this movie is not the last time that she plays Hornclaw.to fight back and have enough self-worth to find the world lacking in comparison instead of accepting its judgment of her?
If you thought “Thelma” (2024), a comedy, was good, but desire a film with an older protagonist who can square up against younger and stronger men, then “The Old Woman with the Knife” is the movie for you. Lee deserves to enter the pantheon of action greats, and hopefully this movie is not the last time that she plays Hornclaw.
