Beyond Evil (2021)

Beyond Evil (Korean: 괴물) is a 2021 South Korean television series directed by Shim Na-yeon, and starring Shin Ha-kyun and Yeo Jin-goo. It aired on JTBC from February 19 to April 10, 2021. It received seven nominations at the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards, winning three: Best Drama, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor for Shin Ha-kyun. It was also selected as one of the final candidates for the Baeksang Arts Award Grand Prize – Television.

Synopsis

Beyond Evil follows the story of two fearless policemen from the Manyang Police Substation of the Munju Police Station (located in the western part of Gyeonggi Province), Lee Dong-sik (Shin Ha-kyun) and Han Joo-won (Yeo Jin-goo), who break the law to catch a serial killer. In the course of uncovering the culprit's identity, they question the innocence of everyone involved in the case, including themselves. "Who is the monster?" "Is it you?" "Is it me?" "Is it us?"

Inspiration

While the plot appears to make some allusions to Korea's Hwaseong serial murders case, the show is not based on a true story and is solely a work of fiction. The similarities can be explained by inspiration drawn from Memories of Murder (2003) by Bong Joon-ho.

Cast

Main

Shin Ha-kyun as Lee Dong-sik

Lee Do-hyun as teen Dong-sik

Kim Hyun-woo as young Dong-sik

An impulsive and eccentric sergeant at the Manyang Police Substation. Once a capable detective, he has been demoted to doing largely menial and tedious tasks. He seeks the killer of his sister.

Yeo Jin-goo as Han Joo-won

Jung Hyeon-jun as young Joo-won

An elite detective from the International Crime Investigation Team at the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency transferred to Manyang Police Substation. Good-looking and capable, he has great influence due to being the son of the next-in-line Police Commissioner, Han Gi-hwan. He is determined to prove Lee Dong-sik guilty of his sister's murder.

Supporting

Manyang Butcher's Shop

Choi Sung-eun as Yoo Jae-yi

Nicknamed the "Master of Knife", the owner of the Manyang Butcher Shop and Restaurant.

Manyang Police Substation

Chun Ho-jin as Nam Sang-bae

The soon-to-retire Chief of Manyang Police Substation.

Son Sang-gyu as Cho Gil-gu

A sergeant at Manyang Police Substation.

Baek Seok-kwang as Hwang Kwang-young

A police officer at Manyang Police Substation.

Nam Yoon-su as Oh Ji-hoon

The youngest police officer at the Manyang Police Substation and the brother of Oh Ji-hwa.

Munju Police Station

Choi Dae-hoon as Park Jeong-je

Choi Chan-ho as teen Jeong-je

Seol Woo-hyung as young Jeong-je

The lieutenant of the Investigation Support Team at Munju Police Station, Lee Dong-sik's best friend, and son of congresswoman Do Hae-won.

Kim Shin-rok as Oh Ji-hwa

Nam Ga-hyeon as teen Ji-hwa

Lee Ye-bit as young Ji-hwa

The team leader of the Dangerous Crimes Division, Lee Dong-sik's classmate from elementary to high school, and the former wife of CEO Lee Chang-jin.

Shim Wan-joon as Kang Do-soo

An honest homicide detective at Munju Police Station whose role model is Dong-sik

Jung Gyu-soo as Jung Cheol-mun

Chief of Munju Police Station.

Seo Jeong-shik as Kwak Oh-sub

Senior detective at Munju Police Station.

Park Bo-kyung as Im Sun-nyeo

Captain of the Forensic Investigation Team and Kang Do-soo's wife.

Yoo Byung-hoon as Lieutenant Ha

Manyang People

Gil Hae-yeon as Do Hae-won

The current councilwoman and aspiring mayoral candidate of Munju, and mother of Park Jeong-je.

Heo Sung-tae as Lee Chang-jin

The CEO of JL Construction and the Chairperson of the Munju City Dream Town Development Committee.

Lee Kyu-hoi as Kang Jin-mook

Park Kwang-il as young Kang Jin-mook

The owner of the Manyang Supermarket, Dong-sik's adopted brother, and the father of Kang Min-jung.

Kang Min-ah as Kang Min-jung

The daughter of Kang Jin-mook, the owner of Manyang Supermarket.

Kim Hieora as Bang Ju-seon

Jung Jae-jin as Bang Ho-cheol, Bang Ju-seon's father.

Jun Soo-hyun as Jang Oh-bok, Do Hae-won's secretary and bodyguard.

Kim Jung-eun as Lee Kang-ja, Cho Gil-gu's wife.

People around Han Joo-won

Choi Jin-ho as Han Gi-hwan

Han Joo-won's father and front-runner for the next Commissioner of the National Police Agency.

Park Ji-hoon as Kwon Hyuk

A Munju City prosecutor who was once Joo-won's private high school tutor.

Woo Jung-won as Lee Su-yeon

Han Gi-hwan's wife and Han Joo-won's mother.

People around Lee Dong-shik

Moon Joo-yeon as Lee Yu-yeon

Dong-sik's fraternal twin sister.

Park Myung-shin as Kim Yeong-hui

Yu-yeon & Dong-shik's mother

Kim Jung-ho as Yu-yeon & Dong-shik's father

Others

Cha Chung-hwa as Lee Geum-hwa

Kim Bi-bi as Han Jeong-im

Jang Sung-bum as Lee Sang-yeob

Kang You-seok as Reporter Lim Gyu-seok

Nam Mi-jung as Fish market lady

Park Ji-ah as Neighborhood woman

Jo Ji-seung as Yoon Mi-hye, Kang Min-jung's mother

Production

Shin Ha-kyun and Yeo Jin-goo previously appeared in the film No Mercy for the Rude (2006) where Yeo played the younger version of Shin's character.

Original soundtrack

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Viewership

Awards and nominations

Listicle

Remake

Beyond Evil has recently landed the J-drama adaptation, with no further news on which broadcasters nor the airing date was publicly announced.

Notes

References

External links

Official website (in Korean)

Beyond Evil at IMDb

Beyond Evil at HanCinema

Beyond Evil on Netflix