Overview of Spiritwalker

‘Spiritwalker’ is a fantasy action thriller which released on 24 November 2021. The story revolves around a man called Kang, whose soul shifts to a new body in every 12 hours. Deprived of memory, he assumes the identity of the body in which his soul resides in the moment. He starts his investigation to find his true identity and uncover the dealing of a dangerous drug by his colleagues. The movie features Yoon Kye-sang, Lim Ji-yeon, and Park Yong-woo in lead roles.

‘Spiritwalker’ is written and directed by Yoon Jae-geun. Also, it is distributed by Avio Entertainment and Megabox JoongAng PlusM.

Profile

• Name: Spiritwalker
• Genre: Action, Mystery, Fantasy
• Starring: Yoon Kye-sang, Lim Ji-yeon, Park Yong-woo
• Directed by: Yoon Jae-geun
• Produced by: Jang Won-seok, Lee So-young
• Written by: Yoon Jae-geun
• Production Companies: Saram Entertainment, BA Entertainment
• Running time: 108 minutes
• Edited by: Hwang Eun-ju, Choe Seul-mi
• Distributed by: Avio Entertainment, Megabox JoongAng PlusM
• Music by: Kang Nene
• Release dates: 22 August 2021 in NYAFF, 24 November 2021 in South Korea
• Language: Korean
• Country: South Korea

Cast

• Yoon Kye-sang as Kang I-an
• Park Yong-woo as Director Park
  
• Park Ji-hwan as Haengryeo
• Lim Ji-yeon as Moon Jin-ah
• Seo Hyun-woo as Baek Sang-sa
• Hong Ki-joon as Go Joong-sa
• Yoo Seung-mok as Chief Lee Shin-woo
• Lee Sung-wook as Yoo Dae-ri
• Lee Woon-san as Ji Cheol-ho
• Kim Min-kyung as Chairwoman Jeon
• Joo Jin-mo as Director Hong
• Park Min-jung as Cake Lady
• Heo Dong-won as Fur coat

Synopsis

The hero lies unconscious in an accident scene. A beggar who comes near the car thinks the man has died and starts to steal things from the car. While the beggar is filling his pocket, the hero wakes up. He has lost his memory and is not able to recall his name or identity. Seeing his condition, the beggar calls for an ambulance to take him to the hospital.

At the hospital, the doctors take out a bullet from his body. To proceed with the investigation of the accident and the gunshot, a lady police officer approaches him. She asks him about his name and identity. However, the hero still has not recalled his life. He finds a room’s key in his pocket. After treating his wound, he goes to the hotel room.

While he inspects the room, the clock on the wall shows two more minutes to strike 12. He finds a chequebook that belongs to a man called Kang. He sits on a couch, but suddenly a girl smiling at him flashes through his mind. When he wakes up from the hallucination, he finds himself sitting in front of an old lady in a restaurant. Out of shock, he runs out of the restaurant and sees the reflection on a shop’s glass. He learned that his soul had shifted to another body.

He runs back to the hotel room and sees a man walking out of the room. It was in that man’s body that the hero woke up after the accident. The hero runs towards him, but suddenly a group of people abduct him in front of his eyes.

From the new body’s suit pocket, he gets the business card of a courier company. Instead of going inside the company, the hero wanders down the street. He meets the same beggar again. Listening to the hero’s story, the beggar suggests the hero to visit the place where it all started. The hero revisits the car and finds photographs of a girl standing before a church. In the hope of finding her, the hero goes to the church. When he is about to leave the church, the girl fights him down and asks about Kang, her husband.

The hero collects the details of the girl. He reaches her house, and through his inspection, he gets the ID card of Kang and an album. From the ID card, he learns Kang is an officer at National Intelligence Agency, and from the album, he understands that the body that he accidentally shifts into is the same as the officers working upon at National Intelligence Agency.

In the meantime, the girl reaches home. The hero hides from getting caught, but he intervenes to save her from the villains who come to catch her. While escaping, the hero tells the girl about the magic caused to his body every 12 hours.

The hero confronts another person, and from him, he learns that Kang has gone missing just before the car accident. On the other hand, the girl is still proceeding with her own investigation to find her missing husband, Kang. She meets a lady police officer, her best friend, and hands over the list of doctors prepared by Kang.

The hero approaches the beggar to get the pen drive that he stole from the car. Though the hero gets the pen drive, the villains catches the beggar. In the middle of all these happenings, the hero’s soul shifts again, and with the new body, he saves his wife and the beggar.

Jin-ah’s investigation takes her to a patient treated by one of the doctors on the list. Later, the hero and the beggar find the doctor, and there the hero meets the unconscious Kang, who is undergoing treatment. After touching Kang’s body, the hero gets the capacity to recall his past. He realises that he is Kang, and his current situation is due to his colleagues backstabbing him.

The senior officer and some of the other employees in the National Intelligence Agency are secretly trading a dangerous drug. The drug’s effect will last for 12 hours when injected into the body, and the user gets the feeling of his soul shifting his body.

Before the whole confusion and the soul shifting begin, one of the employees in the National Intelligence Agency informs Kang about the illegal drug dealing that involves their superiors and other colleagues. However, Kang does not believe the information. It was too late when Kang realises his mistake of not trusting him and his other colleagues and injects the drug into his body, causing his soul to shift every 12 hours.

The soul-shifting ability of Kang saves him from death when he is trapped in a drowning car. In a new body, he reaches the place where the drug dealing is proceeding. In a fight, the body in which Kang’s is present soul gets a foetal injury and dies. Later, Kang wakes up in his own body.

Theme

‘Spiritwalker’ discusses themes like identity crises, life, death, and the afterlife. The hero in the movie experiences the magic of soul-shifting every 12 hours as a result of a dangerous and powerful drug. The continuous soul-shifting puts the hero in a state of identity crisis.

Awards

• 20th New York Asian Film Festival 2021
  Daniel Craft Award for Excellence in Action Cinema

Interesting Facts about Spiritwalker

1. ‘Spiritwalker’ got the invitation to premier at the 20th New York Asian Film Festival, the 17th British Mayham Film Festival, the 53rd Sitges Film Festival, the 6th London East Asian Film Festival, the 35th German Fantasy Filmfest, the 41st Hawaii International Film Festival, and the 21st Trieste Science Fiction Film Festival.
2. ‘Spiritwalker’ was a box office hit in South Korea. It secured 7th place in the top movie list.
3. The literal meaning of the Korean title of ‘Spiritwalker’ is ‘Out of Body’.

FAQs

1. Who is the director of Spiritwalker?
   Yoon Jae-geun directed ‘Spiritwalker’.
   
2. What is the Instagram ID of Yoon Kye-sang?
   @yoonkyesang.official.
3. When is the movie ‘Spiritwalker’ released?
   In South Korea ‘Spiritwalker’ was released on 24 November 2021.