Trailer for The Merciless, which screened at the Fantastic Fest 2017 Film Festival.
Young pretty boy Jo Hyun-su catches the eye of veteran gangster Han Jae-ho during a slap fight at Gyeonggi Penitentiary, where both are guests of the state. Jo's boyish good looks give him a sense of naivete that he trades on and uses to quickly turn the tables on those who underestimate him. Han works for a fish importing business that's really a drug-smuggling front run by Chairman Ko. This is a huge thorn in the side of police chief Cheon, a tough-as-nails female cop who goes toe-to-toe with Ko. On the inside, Han takes control of the cigarette trade by force and lives like a prince behind bars. But when Kim Sung-han arrives, all hell breaks loose. Kim and the prison warden are old friends and suddenly Han's reign is over; there's a new sheriff in town. But Jo sticks by Han's side and even saves his life from a shiv attack by one of Kim's underlings. A friendship slowly begins to form between the two criminals. This friendship lasts beyond their years in prison but nothing is exactly what it seems in the brutal Korean underworld.