Nocturnal

2025

1h 40m

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

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1 Video

43 Images

Mystery

Thriller

Min-tae, a once-notorious gangster who now leads a peaceful retired life, discovers the bloody corpse of his only next of kin: his younger brother Seok-tae. With his brother’s missing wife Moon-young as the prime suspect, Min-tae uncovers a suspicious last phone call between her and a mysterious novelist, sparking a vicious hunt for the truth despite his seemingly deceitful former crime syndicate and the police in hot pursuit.

Directors

Kim Jin-hwang

Writers

Kim Jin-hwang(screenplay by)

Stars

Ha Jung-woo

Kim Nam-gil

Yoo Da-in

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Videos1

Trailer
Watch Nocturnal | tvN Movies

Photos43

Top cast

Bae Min-tae

Kang Ho-ryeong

Moon-young

Chang-mo

Byung-gyu

Detective Park

Detective Min

Jae-man

Kang-ho

Bae Seok-tae

Young-sub

Detective Son

Myeong-woo

Cafe owner

Police

Houseowner

Service ledger

Snack bar

Directors

Kim Jin-hwang

Writers

Kim Jin-hwang(screenplay by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

User reviews2

Review

Featured review

5/10

# Broken in all the right places **Spoiler warning ahead. Proceed only if you've already watched—or don't mind being broken wide open.** --- ## A title lost in translation There’s something quietly frustrating about mismatched titles. The Korean name for this film, 브로큰 (beurokeun)—Broken—says everything it needs to. It’s raw. It’s thematic. It’s accurate. And then came Nocturnal. Elegant, perhaps, even poetic. But Nocturnal is the name of a novel within the story, not the story itself. A choice that, while likely made for international appeal, ends up setting the wrong tone and wrong expectations. If you go in expecting a moody thriller about late-night brooding, you’ll come out thinking the third act forgot to arrive. If they had kept the English title as Broken, the story, pacing, and ending would’ve made more sense. ## Acting and atmosphere For what it is—a revenge thriller—the film delivers. Solid performances all around, led by an actor who wears his role like it’s grown into his bones—a notorious gangster who had already left that life behind but is forced to return after the death of his younger brother. It gives off the same energy as John Wick—feared, respected, tried to live a normal life, but got dragged back in. Except instead of a dog, it was his sibling. The cinematography fits the tone: mysterious, crime, gritty, and fitting for a revenge plot. No complaints there. ## Final thoughts > When mislabeling ruins the mood The tragedy here isn’t just in the story—it’s in the mismatch between title and tone. International viewers might be left confused by the final scene. There is a sense of something settling, but it’s jagged and unsatisfying—because it was never meant to be about closure. It was about being Broken. If they had just stuck with Broken, the pieces would’ve come together. Instead, we’re left with a film that feels unfinished, incomplete—not by design, but by branding. Rating: 5 out of 10 stars (8 if you pretend the title was Broken all along) --- - License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC By-SA) 4.0 International - By: [Yohan Yukiya Sese Cuneta 사요한](https://iam.youronly.one) ([YourOnly.One](https://im.youronly.one)) - Date: 2025-05-26

YourOnlyOne29 May, 2025