Han Chae-young Returns After 8 Years in Dark Thriller ‘Bad Guys: Vile City’
Korean actress Han Chae-young returns to the big screen for the first time in eight years with the upcoming sociopathic thriller Bad Guys: Vile City, igniting buzz with its newly released, daring main trailer. Written, directed, and led by Sung Kang, the film delves into the dark, psychological corners of human nature through a trio of emotionally complex characters.
Bad Guys: Vile City presents a gripping triangle: Yoo Jung (played by Han Chae-young), who still holds faith in humanity’s goodness; Sun-hee (played by Sung Kang), a manipulative sociopath who uses people for his gain; and Go Soo (played by Jang Ui-soo), who rejects trust altogether. The trailer captures their deeply conflicted mindsets through gripping visual storytelling and compelling dialogue.
Opening with Sun-hee’s calm yet threatening monologue, the trailer immediately establishes the menacing nature of his character. In contrast, Yoo Jung’s line, “If we offer love, everything can change,” offers a stark juxtaposition and underlines the central moral clash within the plot—good versus evil.
Enter Go Soo, a man scarred by betrayal, whose rejection of trust adds yet another dimension to the psychological warfare. As tensions rise, scenes of fear, rage, and emotional vulnerability paint a bleak portrait of a society on the brink. One powerful line—“The harder you fight, the deeper into the swamp you fall”—foregrounds the inevitable descent into moral chaos.
In the trailer’s climax, Go Soo’s introspective statement, “Demons are humans, and humans are demons,” drives home the film’s philosophical core—suggesting that everyone contains a capacity for evil.
Han Chae-young, beloved for her work in iconic TV dramas like Kkagilchunhyang and Boys Over Flowers, plays a far more emotionally nuanced role in this film. Returning to cinema after My Neighbor Star (known locally as ‘이웃집 스타’), Han showcases her mature evolution as an actress, portraying Yoo Jung with deep emotional undertones and subtle vulnerability.
Meanwhile, Sung Kang pulls double duty as both director and actor, embodying the role of Sun-hee with chilling intensity. Known for projects like Elegant Family and Again My Life, he shatters previous image expectations by diving deep into the psyche of a charming yet morally bankrupt manipulator.
Actor Jang Ui-soo rounds out the trio as Go Soo, a sharp-witted observer with deep scars. His previous acclaim from titles such as Queen of Mask, Bad Memory Eraser, and Where Your Gaze Lingers positions him as a solid counterpart in the psychological showdown.
Bad Guys: Vile City is slated to hit theaters in June, promising suspense-loving audiences a turbulent ride into the darkest corners of the human soul.
