| Director | Kim Ki-duk |
|---|---|
| Genre | crime thriller film, drama film, thriller film |
| Runtime | 104 min |
| Country | South Korea |
| Box office | $3.6 million |
Kang-do leads a solitary life as a seemingly heartless and brutal debt collector for his clients, loan sharks who demand a 10x return on a one-month loan. To recover the massive interest, the debtors sign an insurance application for handicaps, and Kang-do injures them to file the claims.
In one such instance, Kang-do visits Hun-cheol, who works in a decrepit factory with his wife Myeong-ja. The small loan he took out a month ago has snowballed into a much larger figure, and Kang-do arrives to cripple him and file the claim. In an act of desperation, Myeong-ja tries to seduce Kang-do by stripping, begging him to give them another week to get the money for the interest. Kang-do strips her to her bra, but refuses to have sex with her. He cripples Hun-cheol and files for the insurance.
Later, he notices he is being followed by a middle aged woman. She claims that she is his biological mother, who abandoned him 30 years ago, and introduces herself as Mi-sun. Despite initially pushing her away, Kang-do eventually lets her into his life and opens up to her, mellowing in the process. He is less harsh in pursuing interest, on one occasion refusing to injure a young factory worker who is about to become a father. Seemingly innocent on the surface, Kang-do's relationship with Mi-sun is disturbed by his abandonment anxiety and his life growing up without a mother figure, which manifests itself in sexual ways. Kang-do molests her, asking "I came out of here? Can I go back in?". Another time he tries to get into bed with her and put his face against her breasts. Both times he is pushed away and she is uncomfortable.
On an outing with his mother, Kang-do is childishly excited and whimsical. When insulted by a bystander, he almost gets into a physical altercation. They are followed home by one of the debtors Kang-do has crippled, who is now a beggar. The beggar holds Kang-do's mother hostage as revenge for crippling him, but is mortally wounded in the altercation. Frightened by the situation, Kang-do asks Mi-sun not to go outside without him for her safety.
As Kang-do's birthday approaches, Mi-sun fakes a kidnapping and leaves the house. It is revealed that she isn't actually Kang-do's biological mother, but the mother of a debtor Kang-do crippled in the past, who subsequently committed suicide. Not knowing this, Kang-do desperately chases every person he crippled in the past in order to find Mi-sun. He finds Myeong-ja and Hun-cheol, who now live on Myeong-ja's earnings from selling food on the side of a highway to live after Hun-cheol was left crippled and unable to work. Kang-do is forced to face the consequences of his job as a loan shark, as many of his debtors either die or live in poverty.
Mi-sun commits suicide in front of Kang-do, but expresses pity for him before doing so. After her death Kang-do realizes she isn't his mother, and buries her next to her son. Kang-do commits suicide by tying himself underneath Myeong-ja's truck, which she unknowingly drives, leaving behind a steady trail of his blood.