Film Review: Citizen of a Kind (2024) by Park Young-Joo

“I don’t have time to feel bad”

Action dramedy “Citizen of a Kind” is the story of an ordinary woman who takes matters into her own hands after losing all her money over a voice phishing scam. Directed by Park Young-ju, it is her commercial film debut, and indeed a successful one, considering that “Citizen” topped the South Korean box office on its opening weekend with a cumulative of $3.58 million.

Deok-Hee (Ra Mi-ran) is an ordinary ajumma (a middle-aged woman) whose laundry business and home have just gone up in flames, leaving her and her kids homeless and almost penniless.  However, she is not the kind of woman who stops and feels sorry for herself; in fact, she is working for a laundry company and frantically trying to borrow some money and start her business afresh. Unfortunately, her positive and energetic attitude borders with naivety and she incautiously transfers all her money in order to obtain a loan, prompted by a fictitious bank manager, Mr. Son Jae-Min (Gong Myung) she only spoke to by phone. It’s a classic case of voice-phishing, when impostors fraudulently build up trust with victims online or by phone, in order to scam them. When she discovers she has been swindled, her reaction is imaginable. The police are rather unhelpful as they are overwhelmed by a deluge of similar incidents and Detective Park (Park Byung-eun), in charge of her case, is quick to dismiss it as a routine scam. “Think of it as a life lesson” are his harsh words for her.

Deok-Hee is desperate and refuses to believe that police cannot do anything, when something completely unexpected and unimaginable suddenly happens. Mr. Son phones her and confesses the scam, promising to help her to unveil the whole fraudulent operation. He also tells her he is help captive in a sort of “fraud farm” in Quingdao, China, operated by a criminal gang, where he and many other young men and forced to scam internet users around the world into withdrawing cash. The major problem is that he doesn’t know the exact location where he is in Quingdao and – again – the police cannot act on this mysterious phone call alone. It is a big bet, but Deok-Hee decides to go to Quingdao and track down her informer and the source of the problem. Fortunately, her true friends and colleagues Bong-Rim (Yum Hye-ran) and Sook-Ja (Jang Yoon-ju) decide to go with her and help her in every possible way.

This tale of popular justice is based on an incredible true story of a laundromat owner in Hwaseong, Kim Sung-ja who in 2016 managed to facilitate the arrest of a criminal boss, thank to a repentant gang member. In general, real-life events may lack the dramatic tension or narrative structure necessary to be turned into a compelling film and the factual details of a true story can limit the ability to explore creative possibilities. However, an excellent treatment has been done here to the script and despite the creative liberties, the distortions of the facts for dramatic effect, the addition of cinematic elements and characters, the result is a film that has already managed to please both the real-life protagonist who was invited at the opening, and a vast audience.

This is mainly due to a combination of the strong emotional connection with the protagonist, and a skilful orchestration of the action. Despite being easily imaginable how the story will pan out, there are plenty of genuine moments of suspense that will keep you at the edge of your seat. On the other hand, a well-placed amount of comedy mixed with the classic tale of ordinary people solidarity and bond, deliver the magic formula for a crowd-pleasing and entertaining spectacle.

Voice-phishing, also known as “vishing”, a type of scam where fraudsters use phone calls to deceive individuals into revealing personal or financial information is on the rise everywhere, and recently various films have dealt with this social epidemic or use it for dramatic purposes. However, not many have presented in such manner the “fraud factory” that is shown in “Citizen of a Kind”. Delving into the voice-phishing cartel opens a whole can of worms and reveals an underworld of modern slavery where young workers are trained to create online personas which they use to scam, their passports are confiscated, and they are blackmailed or threatened with organ harvesting and forced prostitution if they do not scam successfully. It is very easy to empathise with ”deserter” Son and all the other victims.

Check also this interview

Ra Mi-Ran as Deok-Hee is a real force of nature. She thoroughly embodies the no-nonsense, ordinary middle-aged woman, tough-spirited, determined and righteous; she surely has big part in the success of “Citizen of a Kind”. She is supported by an accomplished group of actors; as her loyal friends, the excellent tragicomic Yum Hye-Ran, and Jang Yoon-Ju who shows she is not just a pretty face but also a good comedian, then boy band member Gong Myung as repentant operator Son, Park Byung-Eun as slippery Detective Park and a special mention to Lee Mu-Saeng as vicious villain and big boss of the scam cartel.

Park Young-ju has directed with flare “Citizen of a Kind”, a film that is a sensible blend of comedy, action, drama, true friendship, social exposé and redemption.