The Man Standing Next review – fascinating but impenetrable slice of espionage history

South Korean cinema has enjoyed a surge of western popularity in the last few years, from the world-conquering awards success of Parasite to breathless thrillers like The Villainess and The Handmaiden via slow-burn festival darling Burning. The Man Standing Next is unlikely to break out as far as any of those films, with a deliberately complex and opaque plot, but is still a worthwhile slice of espionage history, telling the sensational true story of the 1979 assassination of repressive president Park Chung-hee by his own intelligence services.

Taking place across the last couple of months of President Park’s reign, The Man Standing Next follows Korean Central Intelligence Agency director – and eventual assassin – Kim Kyu-Pyeong (Lee Byung-hun) as he comes to the conclusion that Park has to die for South Korea to experience any kind of security. As Kim puts his plan together, it’s not an easy one for the audience to follow, particularly if you’re not already versed in this period of Korean history. We’re constantly hopping between continents and every conversation is full of references to figures we’ve only briefly met, or perhaps never met at all, as various ambassadors and agents are roped into events and the Americans keep meddling in the shadows.

The strongest strands are when writer-director Min-ho Woo allow us closer into Kim’s inner circle and we get to see the man’s personal friendships and rivalries and how they inform his schemes. There are some fun scenes of, by turns, happiness and rage as Kim reunites with old friend and KCIA director predecessor Park Yong-gak (Do-won Kwak), balanced by furious showdown with President Park’s violent lout of a Security Chief Kwak Sang-Cheon (Lee Hee-joon).

Lee gives a compelling lead performance, inviting us into the tortured mind of Director Kim but keeping just enough of a distance that we’re never 100% sure what his next move is. For a lot of its runtime, The Man Standing Next, as well as being a bit impenetrable, moves rather slowly, which could easily put you off, so Lee’s commanding presence is vital in making sure the whole endeavour works at all. The rest of the Korean ensemble is impressive too, though the same can’t be said of the bland American cast, who don’t really capture the necessary urgency, even as disaster becomes imminent.

The Man Standing Next is a spy thriller more in the John le Carré mould than the James Bond one, most of its action taking place as conversations in dimly lit rooms, but there are a few nicely-handled set pieces like a clumsily bruising scuffle in the back seat of a car and the final assassination itself. Woo really pulls out all the stops for the grand climax, the previously unshowy camerawork giving way to swooping pans and zooms and bright sprays of blood coating otherwise pristine rooms.

For a film that makes you work very hard, The Man Standing Next won’t quite pay off frequently or thrillingly enough for most audiences. Yet for patient viewers, this offers a fascinating insight into a pivotal moment in Korean history that will have you diving deep into a research rabbit hole as soon as the credits roll.

The Man Standing Next is now showing on Curzon Home Cinema.