# The Negotiation (협상) (film)
**The Negotiation** (협상) is a 2018 South Korean crime thriller directed by [Lee Jong-suk](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-jong-suk), in which a police crisis negotiator played by [Son Ye-jin](https://www.edgepedia.org/son-ye-jin) faces off by phone and video link against an arms dealer played by [Hyun Bin](https://www.edgepedia.org/hyun-bin), who has taken hostages and set a 21-hour deadline.[1](https://koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20177308) It was produced by JK Film and distributed by CJ ENM, opening in South Korean cinemas on September 19, 2018.[2](https://welcon.kocca.kr/cmm/fms/crawling/2018%EB%85%84%2011%EC%9B%94%20%ED%95%9C%EA%B5%AD%EC%98%81%ED%99%94%EC%82%B0%EC%97%85%EA%B2%B0%EC%82%B0%EB%B3%B4%EA%B3%A0%EC%84%9C_%EB%AF%B8%EB%A6%AC%EB%B3%B4%EA%B8%B0?atchFileId=FILE_ed480e0d-de75-4c2b-a2b7-ff352580e845&fileSn=1)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title / genre | 협상 (Hyeopsang); crime thriller, 114 minutes, rated 15 in South Korea[1](https://koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20177308) |
| Director | Lee Jong-suk; the film was his first feature[3](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20180921096600005) |
| Leads | Son Ye-jin as negotiator Ha Chae-yoon; Hyun Bin as hostage-taker Min Tae-gu[4](https://koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/news.jsp?blbdComCd=601006&mode=VIEW&pageIndex=1&seq=4978) |
| Release | September 19, 2018, on 918 screens[2](https://welcon.kocca.kr/cmm/fms/crawling/2018%EB%85%84%2011%EC%9B%94%20%ED%95%9C%EA%B5%AD%EC%98%81%ED%99%94%EC%82%B0%EC%97%85%EA%B2%B0%EC%82%B0%EB%B3%B4%EA%B3%A0%EC%84%9C_%EB%AF%B8%EB%A6%AC%EB%B3%B4%EA%B8%B0?atchFileId=FILE_ed480e0d-de75-4c2b-a2b7-ff352580e845&fileSn=1) |
| Box office | 17,028,848,166 won in ticket sales and 1,967,168 admissions in the KOFIC November 2018 accounting[2](https://welcon.kocca.kr/cmm/fms/crawling/2018%EB%85%84%2011%EC%9B%94%20%ED%95%9C%EA%B5%AD%EC%98%81%ED%99%94%EC%82%B0%EC%97%85%EA%B2%B0%EC%82%B0%EB%B3%B4%EA%B3%A0%EC%84%9C_%EB%AF%B8%EB%A6%AC%EB%B3%B4%EA%B8%B0?atchFileId=FILE_ed480e0d-de75-4c2b-a2b7-ff352580e845&fileSn=1) |
| Production | JK Film, AndPics, and CJ ENM; distributed by CJ ENM[2](https://welcon.kocca.kr/cmm/fms/crawling/2018%EB%85%84%2011%EC%9B%94%20%ED%95%9C%EA%B5%AD%EC%98%81%ED%99%94%EC%82%B0%EC%97%85%EA%B2%B0%EC%82%B0%EB%B3%B4%EA%B3%A0%EC%84%9C_%EB%AF%B8%EB%A6%AC%EB%B3%B4%EA%B8%B0?atchFileId=FILE_ed480e0d-de75-4c2b-a2b7-ff352580e845&fileSn=1) |
| Festival | Official selection, London East Asia Film Festival (2018)[1](https://koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20177308) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and cast
Ha Chae-yoon is an ace crisis negotiator for the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. She is called to a scene where her supervisor has been taken hostage, and through a control-room monitor she confronts Min Tae-gu, a cold-blooded hostage-taker whose actions are difficult to interpret. Against the 21-hour deadline Tae-gu has set, Chae-yoon tries to crack his unusually calm demeanor, and a shocking truth gradually comes to light.[1](https://koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20177308)
The fuller plot setup places the crisis abroad as well as at home. Ten days after a hostage operation in Yangjae-dong, Chae-yoon is summoned to a secret location and ordered to negotiate with Min Tae-gu, a UK citizen and international arms dealer who has kidnapped Korean nationals from Bangkok, among them a reporter, and holds them on an island in the Malacca Straits. Offended by Min, Chae-yoon hangs up on him twice before taking over the stalled talks.[5](https://www.netflixmovies.com/the-negotiation-2018) As the story develops, the case's scale is revealed to involve corruption among figures of authority, giving the thriller a social-critical undertone.[6](https://www.asianmovieweb.com/en/reviews/the_negotiation.htm)
**Casting against type.** Son Ye-jin was known as the "Queen of Melodrama" and Hyun Bin as the "Rom-Com King", and the film put both leads into a crime thriller rather than the romance their audiences expected.[7](https://cityonfire.com/the-negotiation-2018-review/) Korean press coverage likewise emphasized that the film presented the two as a two-top pairing for a crime film rather than a melodrama.[8](https://r.yna.co.kr/www/imazine/201810/066.pdf) Hyun Bin, recently seen in *Confidential Assignment* (2017) and *The Swindlers* (2017), took the role of the hostage-taker Min Tae-gu.[4](https://koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/news.jsp?blbdComCd=601006&mode=VIEW&pageIndex=1&seq=4978) The supporting cast includes Kim Sang-ho, Jang Young-nam, Jang Kwang, Jo Young-jin, Lee Joo-young, and Park Soo-young.[1](https://koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20177308)
## Production and direction
The film was Lee Jong-suk's first feature as director.[3](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20180921096600005) In a Yonhap interview shortly after release, he said he had edited the film down, leaving as little as possible, in order to maintain tension.[3](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20180921096600005) The screenplay is credited to Choi Sung-hyun and Park Myeong-chan.[5](https://www.netflixmovies.com/the-negotiation-2018)
Because the confrontation plays out largely through monitors and phone calls, the two leads rarely share the frame. Hyun Bin said at a press event that acting face to face lets a performer read a partner's breathing and small movements, whereas here he had to find all of the other character's actions and emotions through a small monitor, an unfamiliar method that he nonetheless judged well suited to the film.[9](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20180809088500005)
The production came from JK Film, the company behind the ten-million-viewer hits *Haeundae* (2009) and *Ode to My Father* (2014) as well as *Confidential Assignment*.[4](https://koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/news.jsp?blbdComCd=601006&mode=VIEW&pageIndex=1&seq=4978) Production companies were JK Film, AndPics, and CJ ENM, with CJ ENM handling distribution.[2](https://welcon.kocca.kr/cmm/fms/crawling/2018%EB%85%84%2011%EC%9B%94%20%ED%95%9C%EA%B5%AD%EC%98%81%ED%99%94%EC%82%B0%EC%97%85%EA%B2%B0%EC%82%B0%EB%B3%B4%EA%B3%A0%EC%84%9C_%EB%AF%B8%EB%A6%AC%EB%B3%B4%EA%B8%B0?atchFileId=FILE_ed480e0d-de75-4c2b-a2b7-ff352580e845&fileSn=1)
## Release and box office
The [Negotiation](https://www.edgepedia.org/negotiation) opened on September 19, 2018, on 918 screens, in the crowded Chuseok holiday window. On the same date, *The Fortress*-period epic Ansi: Siege of the Fortress opened on 1,538 screens and *Mingdang* (명당) on 1,115 screens; through the November 2018 accounting period, Ansi had drawn 5,436,222 admissions and Mingdang 2,084,730, against The Negotiation's 1,967,168 admissions and 17,028,848,166 won in revenue.[2](https://welcon.kocca.kr/cmm/fms/crawling/2018%EB%85%84%2011%EC%9B%94%20%ED%95%9C%EA%B5%AD%EC%98%81%ED%99%94%EC%82%B0%EC%97%85%EA%B2%B0%EC%82%B0%EB%B3%B4%EA%B3%A0%EC%84%9C_%EB%AF%B8%EB%A6%AC%EB%B3%B4%EA%B8%B0?atchFileId=FILE_ed480e0d-de75-4c2b-a2b7-ff352580e845&fileSn=1) Reviewers noted that it was promoted as the contemporary, action-packed alternative in a lineup dominated by historical dramas.[10](https://eontalk.com/thenegotiation/) A distributor lineup table for 2018 listed the film among CJ's major releases, starring Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin and classified as crime/thriller.[11](https://ssl.pstatic.net/imgstock/upload/research/company/1529545362485.pdf)
CJ [Entertainment](https://www.edgepedia.org/entertainment) reported 22 international sales for the title.[4](https://koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/news.jsp?blbdComCd=601006&mode=VIEW&pageIndex=1&seq=4978) The film was an official selection of the 2018 London East Asia Film Festival.[1](https://koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20177308)
## Reception and availability
Aggregated scores place the film in middling territory: IMDb lists 6.7 out of 10 and Rotten Tomatoes 60 percent.[12](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-negotiation) The Los Angeles Times gave a negative review, writing that the film "unravels from the inside out" and that the director's by-the-book filmmaking did little to raise the stakes.[13](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-negotiation/) Other reviewers took a more favorable view, describing a solid thriller with a complex story and socio-critical undertone[6](https://www.asianmovieweb.com/en/reviews/the_negotiation.htm) and praising Son Ye-jin's role as a strong female lead in a male-dominated genre.[14](https://neofilmshop.com/blogs/news/film-review-the-negotiation-2018-south-korea)
The film has remained available on streaming services, including Rakuten Viki and, in the United States, free with ads on [The Roku Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-roku-channel), with rental on Amazon Video; it runs 114 minutes in Korean with subtitles.[12](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-negotiation)
## References
1. [THE NEGOTIATION (2018), Korean Film Council (KOFIC) film database](https://koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=20177308)
2. [2018년 11월 한국영화산업 결산보고서 미리보기, KOFIC/KOCCA](https://welcon.kocca.kr/cmm/fms/crawling/2018%EB%85%84%2011%EC%9B%94%20%ED%95%9C%EA%B5%AD%EC%98%81%ED%99%94%EC%82%B0%EC%97%85%EA%B2%B0%EC%82%B0%EB%B3%B4%EA%B3%A0%EC%84%9C_%EB%AF%B8%EB%A6%AC%EB%B3%B4%EA%B8%B0?atchFileId=FILE_ed480e0d-de75-4c2b-a2b7-ff352580e845&fileSn=1)
3. ['협상' 감독 "긴장감 유지하려 최소 남기고 편집", 연합뉴스 (2018)](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20180921096600005)
4. [THE NEGOTIATION Leads to 22 International Sales, Korean Film Council](https://koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/news.jsp?blbdComCd=601006&mode=VIEW&pageIndex=1&seq=4978)
5. [The Negotiation (2018) plot summary and details, NetflixMovies.com](https://www.netflixmovies.com/the-negotiation-2018)
6. [The Negotiation (South Korea, 2018) Review, AsianMovieWeb](https://www.asianmovieweb.com/en/reviews/the_negotiation.htm)
7. [The Negotiation (2018) Review, cityonfire.com](https://cityonfire.com/the-negotiation-2018-review/)
8. [영화 '협상' 기사 자료, 연합뉴스 (2018)](https://r.yna.co.kr/www/imazine/201810/066.pdf)
9. ['협상' 이종석 감독 "어디서 본 듯 영화는 싫었다", 연합뉴스 (2018)](https://www.yna.co.kr/amp/view/AKR20180809088500005)
10. [The Negotiation (2018) 협상 Review, EonTalk](https://eontalk.com/thenegotiation/)
11. [표3 2018년 주요 배급사별 한국영화 주요 라인업](https://ssl.pstatic.net/imgstock/upload/research/company/1529545362485.pdf)
12. [The Negotiation streaming details, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-negotiation)
13. [The Negotiation Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-negotiation/)
14. [Film Review: The Negotiation 智命談判 협상 (2018), Neo Film Shop](https://neofilmshop.com/blogs/news/film-review-the-negotiation-2018-south-korea)
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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 › Thriller and mystery films › Titles F to N*
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