Overview of The Night Owl
‘The Night Owl’ is a 2022 thriller mystery set in the Joseon period, starring Ryu Jun-yeol and Yoo Hae-jin. The movie is focused on unfolding the murder mystery of the Crown Prince, Sohyeon. Ryu Jun-yeol plays the role of Kyung-soo, the blind acupuncturist who unwinds the murder and Yoo Hae-jin plays the role of King Injo.
Profile
- Name: ‘The Night Owl’
- Genre: Period drama, Thriller-mystery
- Starring: Ryu Jun-yeol, Yoo Hae-jin
- Directed by: Ahn Tae-jin
- Cinematography: Kim Tae-kyung
- Distributed by: Next Entertainment World
- Production Companies: C-JeS Entertainment, Cinema DahmDahm
- Running time: 118 minutes
- Release date: 23 November 2022
- Language: Korean
- Country: South Korea
Cast
- Ryu Jun-yeol as Kyung-soo
- Kim Do-won as Chun Kyung-jae
- Kim Sung-cheol as Crown Prince Sohyeon
- Yoo Hae-jin as King Injo
- Choi Moo-sung as Lee Hyung-ik
- Jo Sung-ha as Young Eui-jeong
- Park Myung-hoon as Man-sik
- Ahn Eun-jin as Jo So-yong
- Lee Joo-won as Yi Seok-cheol
Synopsis
‘The Night Owl’ opens with a scene where Kyung-soo rushes somewhere through a murky corridor piggybacking his younger brother before the day breaks. The scene is soon replaced by the flashback that brought him to the palace.
Kyung-soo is a blind man and he secures a job as the royal acupuncturist by exhibiting his incomparable curative skills. He has a younger brother suffering from serious heart disease and for his treatment, a booming amount of money is needed.
Kyung-soo’s eyes have the special ability to see in the dark which goes blind in the presence of light. He hides his ability to see in the dark and starts to work as the royal acupuncturist. His disability helps him to gain the sympathy of others.
The Kingdom is waiting for the return of the Crown Prince Sohyeon. Crown Prince Sohyeon lives as a hostage of Qing Dynasty. When he returns Kyung-soo becomes a close acquaintance of the Crown Prince Sohyeon within no time.
When Sohyeon starts his life in the palace, there arise ideological disagreements between the father and the son. The arguments of the Crown Prince evidently display his interest in the Qing Dynasty. However, when the King sees his son getting disturbed by terrible coughing, he recommends him to approach the royal physician.
After befriending Kyung-soo, the Crown Prince identifies the special ability of him. Instead of exposing him, the Crown Prince gifts him a magnifying glass for a better vision while writing letters to his little brother. Furthermore, he sends help to cure the disease of Kyung-soo’s sick brother.
One night, Kyung-soo is summoned to treat the Crown Prince when his coughing worsens. He is taken to a dimly lit room. The Crown Prince is under the treatment of the royal physician.
As the royal physician submerges in his duties, the light goes off. When darkness consumes the room, Kyung-soo witnesses the bamboozle that happens in the room. The royal physician is piercing poisonous needles all over the body and head of the Crown Prince. After accomplishing the treacherous murder, the royal physician leaves the place with Kyung-soo.
To save the Crown Prince, Kyung-soo returns with the antidote but by that time the Crown Prince has already died. He discovers a poisonous needle from the top of the Crown Prince’s head. In an effort to escape with the evidence, he injures his leg.
After the death of the Crown Prince, everything goes well as planned by the criminals for a while. He approaches the Crown Prince’s wife to bring out the criminals to light. The Crown Princess seeks the help of the King, but Kyung-soo denies witnessing the crime. The King imprisons the Crown Princess for cooking up stories.
Surprisingly, killing the Crown Prince was the scheme of the King himself to prevent Kyung-soo’s succession as the King. To save himself and to provide justice for the dead Prince, Kyung-soo approaches the Premier.
After learning about the awful fate that fell on the Crown Prince, the Premier decides to trap the King and bring justice. They determine to collect prominent evidence to overthrow the King from his throne. One day, Kyung-soo numbs the right hand of the King with his acupuncture therapy and makes him write an eulogy with his left hand.
The Premier examines the handwriting by comparing the eulogy written and the letter which was obtained by Kyung-soo from the chamber of the royal physician. The matching handwriting proves the involvement of the King in the murder.
Convinced by the innocence of Kyung-soo, the Premier helps him to get out of the palace. When he is about to make his escape he gets the information that his brother is under the treatment of the royal physician.
Kyung-soo runs to his brother to prevent him from falling victim to the treacherous plan of the royal physician. By piercing an acupuncture needle at one of the vital points of the physician, Kyung-soo rescues his brother.
When he tries to flee from the palace carrying his brother, the day breaks and the light blurs his vision. Trippling and stumbling, he walks forward and finally confronts the King himself.
The King orders to behead Kyung-soo, but he reveals the cruelty of the King in front of everyone in the palace. With the help of Premier, Kyung-soo succeeds in convincing everyone.
Later, Kyung-soo moves to a peaceful location and continues his medical practice. One day, he is summoned to the palace to treat the King. He starts his treatment by piercing needles on his body and tells the King that he will heal him. Kyung-soo plays the same trick on the King and kills him by piercing a needle on the top of his head. After committing the crime, he reports that the King died of Malaria.
Theme
The movie presents a hero who is blind, weak and poor. With these drawbacks the hero brings justice to the late Crown Prince. Through this, the movie represents the victory of truth over money and power. Furthermore, the film shows how circumstances turn a man into a hero by picturing the life of Kyung-soo as an example.
The hero Kyung-soo is given a special ability to see at night. When the world goes blind in the darkness, his eyes light up to see the world. By giving the hero a special ability to see at night the movie indirectly assures that truth can not be buried or concealed.
Awards
- 59th Baeksang Arts Awards 2023
Best Film
Best New Director – Ahn Tae-jin
Best Actor – Ryu Jun-yeol - Director’s Cut Awards 2023
Best New Director in film – Ahn Tae-jin
Interesting Facts about The Night Owl
- ‘The Night Owl’ was one of the highest-grossing movies of 2022.
- ‘The Night Owl’ entertained 3,317,510 viewers on the big screen.
- Ryu Jun-yeol played the role of the blind acupuncturist in the movie ‘The Night Owl’.
FAQs
- Who is the director of the movie ‘The Night Owl’?
Ahn Tae-jin is the director of ‘The Night Owl’. - What is the Instagram ID of Ryu Jun-yeol?
@ryusdb - When is the movie ‘The Night Owl’ released?
‘The Night Owl’ was released 23 November 2022.
- Is ‘The Night Owl’ a fantasy movie?
‘The Night Owl’ is a historical-drama movie.
- Who plays the role of the Crown Prince in the movie?
Kim Sung-cheol plays the role of the Crown Prince in ‘The Night Owl’.
