Director: Park Dae-min
Starring: Park So-dam, Song Sae-byeok, Kim Eui-song, Jung Hyeon-jun, Yeon Woo-jin, Yeom Hye-ran, Han Hyun-min
Country of Origin: South Korea
Running time: 1h 48m
Navigating the weighty demands of a first leading film role is challenging enough, yet Park So-dam never veers off track once as she stars and even drives her own vehicle.
She manages to keep everything on course as an unfazed driver with an unblemished record in dispatching anything for a price.
A breathtaking prologue shows the fearless, streaky haired Jang Eun-ha (Park So-dam) zoom expertly through the dark lit streets and narrow alleyways of Busan to take a client to his destination all while skilfully evading a group of thugs in hot pursuit.
When her employer Baekgang Industries – an undercover business which ostensibly operates as a junkyard – takes on a more lucrative job she is placed in an invidious position.
Eun-ha hesitantly agrees to transport disgraced former baseball player Kim Doo-shik (Yeon Woo-jin) – who is caught up in an illegal betting and match fixing ring which becomes public news – and his son Seo-won (Jung Hyeon-jun) from just outside Seoul to the port of Pyeongtaek.
Yet unbeknownst to her the ex-ballplayer intends to not only flee the country but escape corrupt police investigator Jo Kyung-pil (Song Sae-byeok) who heads the entire scam operation.
When it emerges that Doo-shik has a bank security fob worth $30 million in his possession, the venal cop begins a deadly chase to ensure a bumper retirement payday which forces Eun-ha and Seo-won together in the process.
There’s an abundance of heavily revved up set-piece scenes which sometimes motor on a little longer than absolutely necessary, but in the main it’s pulsating and exhilarating.
In a realm which is almost completely male dominated it is something of a novel concept to have an utterly assured young, female behind the wheel.
From its opening a slightly misogynistic tone emerges as Eun-ha’s client expresses shock and dismay that their delivery driver is a girl.
It’s important to distinguish hyped-up, rapid-fire action from social commentary, but this is still quite a groundbreaking development, even for a South Korean film made in 2022.
The real bombshell (and this is not a major spoiler) is that Eun-ha is actually a North Korean defector and the heroine of the piece. Not a scummy commie – although repugnant crooked cop Kyung-pil does use a similarly derogatory term – or illegal invader, but someone the audience is supposed to be cheering for.
This should not be underplayed when it’s routine and in some cases an easy option to immediately label anyone from beyond the 38th parallel as a villain in contemporary South Korean cinema.
In Special Delivery we are expected to be firmly on the side of Eun-ha – who is played marvellously by Park So-dam – rather than view her as a nefarious alien.
As a doe-eyed innocent caught up in a hopelessly bleak situation Jung Hyeon-jun does an admirable job of expressing a gamut of emotions as Seo-won.
Rather than the maelstrom of speedy driving exuberance and flurries of excessive blood stained savagery it’s the relationship between outsider Eun-ha and abandoned Seo-won that sparks the film into life.
Reunited after the pair were teacher and student in Bong Joon-ho’s masterpiece Parasite (2019) it’s their connection which injects optimism and feeling into a movie which leans heavily on flashy car chases and quick cuts of barbaric violence.
In a meeting of the generations Baekgang Industries boss Baek Kang-cheol, an uncouth and irascible character – played effectively by Kim Eui-sung – clashes with his younger staff, which largely comprises undocumented immigrant workers.
Whether he is supposed to be a throwback stereotype of a less tolerant era or he’s just a bitter old scoundrel, director Park Dae-min misguidedly gives him lines of racist dialogue.
It’s a very poorly judged move which tars scenes involving biracial model turned actor Han Hyun-min, who does a decent enough job as affable mechanic Asif who is always on hand to help Eun-ha.
As a result, it’s easy enough to mistake Baek Kang-cheol as the bad guy rather than vile, unscrupulous cop Jo Kyung-pil, who is portrayed with real gusto and venom by Song Sang-byeok.
While the polished Yeom Hye-ran adds a touch of gravitas as a National Intelligence Service officer in a small supporting role, it’s Park So-dam that carries the film brilliantly.
Unflappable, charismatic, and vulnerable as the central character she is sensational in an assured, multifaceted display.
The 1980s synth inspired soundtrack by composer Hwang Sang-jun deserves a special mention, especially the tracks ‘Can You Drive’ and ‘First Express’ which act as the perfect accompaniment to the on screen action in a film driven by the conviction of its brilliant lead protagonist.
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Stephen Kasiewicz 