# Dark Figure of Crime (암수살인) (2018 film)
**Dark Figure of Crime** (암수살인) is a 2018 South Korean crime thriller directed by Kim Tae-gyun, in which a Busan detective investigates seven previously unknown murders confessed by an imprisoned killer. It stars Kim Yun-seok as the detective Kim Hyung-min and [Ju Ji-hoon](https://www.edgepedia.org/ju-ji-hoon) as the convicted murderer [Kang Tae-oh](https://www.edgepedia.org/kang-tae-oh), and it was distributed by Showbox from October 3, 2018.[1](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/news.jsp?blbdComCd=601006&mode=VIEW&pageRowSize=10&seq=4955) • [2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?lang=en&movieCd=20179189) The title comes from the Korean police term *amsu beomjoe* (암수범죄), crime that goes unrecorded in official statistics because it is never reported or never solved; the film was marketed as a "crime fact drama" (범죄실화극) built on a real case.[3](https://weekly.khan.co.kr/article/201810011415301) • [4](https://www.kukinews.com/article/view/kuk201810020339)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | October 3, 2018, South Korea; 109 minutes; rated 15[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?lang=en&movieCd=20179189) |
| Director and writers | Directed by Kim Tae-gyun; screenplay by Kim Tae-gyun and Kwak Kyung-taek[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?lang=en&movieCd=20179189) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8119680/awards/) |
| Leads | Kim Yun-seok as detective Kim Hyung-min; Ju Ji-hoon as killer Kang Tae-oh[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?lang=en&movieCd=20179189) |
| Production | Film295 and Blossom Pictures; distributed by Showbox[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?lang=en&movieCd=20179189) |
| Box office | 3,789,321 admissions on 1,177 screens; fifth best-selling Korean film of 2018[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?lang=en&movieCd=20179189) • [6](https://www.stats.koreanfilm.org/kfilm18.html) |
| Main awards | Blue Dragon Awards 2018 Best Screenplay; Paeksang Arts Awards 2019 Best Screenplay; Korean Association of Film Critics 2018 Best Screenplay[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8119680/awards/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and subject
The film opens with Kang Tae-oh already under arrest for murder. From prison he contacts Kim Hyung-min, a detective on the Busan drug squad, and confesses to seven additional killings that no one knows about, offering clues to the victims in exchange for visits. Hyung-min, convinced by the detective's instinct that the confessions contain truth, pursues the list while knowing that Tae-oh mixes lies with facts; the investigation is hampered by approaching statutes of limitation and thin evidence.[7](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=53224) • [3](https://weekly.khan.co.kr/article/201810011415301)
The structure differs from most Korean crime films in that the arrest has already happened. Instead of a chase, the drama centers on the visiting room and on the work of proving past murders: Hyung-min must decide, in his own words, to "believe unconditionally and suspect to the end."[4](https://www.kukinews.com/article/view/kuk201810020339) • [7](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=53224) Critics noted the psychological duel as the film's engine; one reviewer described Ju's killer as "a compelling mix of bravado, menace and psychotic rage," and another read Tae-oh less as a mastermind than as a man starved for attention.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dark_figure_of_crime)
## The real case
The film is based on a real episode in which a murderer from Busan offered a deal to a detective in 2010, claiming responsibility for hidden murders, and on the detective's struggle to verify unreliable confessions.[9](https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20180828006900315) Director Kim Tae-gyun said he first learned of the story from a television documentary in the fall of 2012.[9](https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20180828006900315) The case had been covered in November 2012 by the SBS investigative program *I Want to Know That* (그것이 알고싶다) under the title "A Puzzle from Prison: The Truth of the Murder List."[10](https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1004945770) One Korean review dated the program's coverage to 2010 rather than 2012; the broadcaster's own account gives November 2012.[4](https://www.kukinews.com/article/view/kuk201810020339) • [10](https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1004945770)
## Controversy and injunction
Before release, the production became the center of a legal dispute because it had not sought consent from the real case victim's family. On September 20, 2018, the victim's sister filed an injunction at the Seoul Central District Court to ban the film's screening, arguing that the movie reenacted the actual murder, including scenes of the victim being stabbed and his body burned, and that screening it without permission violated the victim's personality rights.[11](https://www.netflixmovies.com/dark-figure-of-crime-2018) • [12](https://ichannela.com/news/detail/000000114450.do) A court hearing included a 50-minute screening of the film before its release.[13](https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20180928_0000429378)
The dispute ended before the scheduled date. On September 30, 2018, the four family members (the parents and two sisters) received a formal apology from the production company Film295, which acknowledged that it had been insufficiently careful in seeking the family's consent, and the injunction was withdrawn; the film opened on October 3 as planned.[14](https://ent.sbs.co.kr/news/article.do?article_id=E10009224204) • [10](https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1004945770)
## Censorship rating
South Korea's Korea Media Rating Board first gave the film a 19-and-over rating. The production re-edited it, cutting roughly two minutes of content, to secure an age-15 rating for wider release.[11](https://www.netflixmovies.com/dark-figure-of-crime-2018)
## Box office and reception
The film opened on 1,177 screens and passed two million admissions on its seventh day.[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?lang=en&movieCd=20179189) • [15](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20181009060400005) In its second weekend it drew 552,989 admissions and overtook the Hollywood superhero film *Venom* for first place on the Korean weekend box office.[16](https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20181015002300315) It finished 2018 with 3,789,321 admissions and about 33.0 billion won in revenue, ranking fifth among Korean films released that year, behind *Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days*, *The Great Battle*, *Intimate Strangers*, and *Believer*.[6](https://www.stats.koreanfilm.org/kfilm18.html)
Critical response was favorable on balance. Rotten Tomatoes recorded an 80% Tomatometer from five reviews and a 72% audience score.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dark_figure_of_crime) The Korea Herald's review called it "a rare film with strong directing and acting that tells a compelling story with heart, mixed with suspense," and Yonhap's review highlighted it as a rare treatment of murders that never entered official statistics.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dark_figure_of_crime) • [17](https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20180914009100315)
## Awards
The screenplay by Kim Tae-gyun and Kwak Kyung-taek won Best Screenplay at the 2018 Blue Dragon Awards, the 2018 Korean Association of Film Critics Awards (which also placed the film among its Eleven Best Films of the Year), and the 2019 Paeksang Arts Awards.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8119680/awards/) Ju Ji-hoon won Best Actor at the 2019 Chunsa Film Art Awards, where Kim Tae-gyun won Best New Director, and the film screened at festivals including the London East Asia Film Festival (2018, Opening Gala) and the New York Asian Film Festival (2019).[2](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?lang=en&movieCd=20179189) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8119680/awards/)
## References
1. [DARK FIGURE OF CRIME to Kick Off 2018 Fall Thriller Season in Korea, KOFIC Korean Film Biz Zone](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/news.jsp?blbdComCd=601006&mode=VIEW&pageRowSize=10&seq=4955)
2. [Dark Figure of Crime (2018), Korean Film Council database](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?lang=en&movieCd=20179189)
3. [터치스크린]암수살인-아무도 모르는 살인의 슬픔과 울분, 주간경향 (2018)](https://weekly.khan.co.kr/article/201810011415301)
4. [쿡리뷰] '암수살인' 살인사건, 그 이상의 묵직한 메시지, 쿠키뉴스 (2018)](https://www.kukinews.com/article/view/kuk201810020339)
5. [Dark Figure of Crime (2018) - Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8119680/awards/)
6. [Korean Movie Reviews for 2018, Koreanfilm.org (KOBIS data)](https://www.stats.koreanfilm.org/kfilm18.html)
7. [암수살인 (Dark Figure of Crime) 상세정보, 씨네21](https://cine21.com/movie/info/?movie_id=53224)
8. [Dark Figure of Crime, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dark_figure_of_crime)
9. ['Dark Figure of Crime': Real life can be more dramatic than fiction, Yonhap News Agency (2018)](https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20180828006900315)
10. [논란의 '암수살인', '그것이 알고싶다' 실화 어떤 내용이길래?, SBS 뉴스 (2018)](https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1004945770)
11. [Dark Figure of Crime (2018) on Netflix, NetflixMovies.com](https://www.netflixmovies.com/dark-figure-of-crime-2018)
12. ["유족 고통" vs "창작 자유"…'암수살인' 상영 공방, 채널A 뉴스 (2018)](https://ichannela.com/news/detail/000000114450.do)
13. [개봉도 안한 영화 '암수살인' 법정서 50분 상영…사연은?, 뉴시스 (2018)](https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20180928_0000429378)
14. ['암수살인', 상영 금지 소송 취하…피해자 유족 "진심 어린 사과 받았다", SBS 연예뉴스 (2018)](https://ent.sbs.co.kr/news/article.do?article_id=E10009224204)
15. ['암수살인' 개봉 7일째 200만명 돌파, 연합뉴스 (2018)](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20181009060400005)
16. [Korean crime thriller dethrones 'Venom' at box office, Yonhap News Agency (2018)](https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20181015002300315)
17. [(Movie Review) 'Dark Figure of Crime' offers rare glimpse into murders under the radar, Yonhap News Agency (2018)](https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20180914009100315)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2015–2019 films › Crime drama and neo-noir films*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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