The pressures of balancing work and motherhood are typically enough to fill several films, and that's without the mom also being a world-class assassin. "Kingmaker" writer and director Byun Sung-hyun's first entry into the action genre, "Kill Boksoon," is a crime thriller centered on a mother raising her teenage daughter while continuing her work as a skilled hitwoman. In this magnetic film, Bok-soon's dilemmas as a mother and the moments where they inevitably intersect with her work make for the most thrilling portrayal of work-life balance put to the screen, as Byun expertly innovates and at times subverts the typical hitman arc.
A job goes wrong, giving those plotting against Bok-soon a chance to strike, and she protects herself in stunningly choreographed fight scenes.
