Throughout the evolution of the action genre, the genesis of the getaway driver has evolved through different modes of iconic tight-knit narratives. Behind every heist, behind every journey revolving around the all-encompassing greed of the American dream, there is a driver. We’ve all seen the archetype — a typically timid role reserved for trauma-bent protagonists or one-off side characters. In their journey for a resurrective resolution lies the penance for their crimes. Who could forget the neon-bathed Americana of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, or the musically-entwined pastiche of Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver? It’s a role often reserved for Men in most Western blockbusters, though some have dabbled with gender-swapping in their tales of electrifying embezzlement. To that end, the world can turn their eyes to South Korea and its latest popcorn thriller, Special Delivery. The film, as aptly suggested by its title, delivers its initial promise of a new genre twist revolving around the infamous archetype, whilst also supplementing its serviceable crime drama with a mysterious young heroine at its core.
Eun-ha (Park So-dam) sips on fizzy drinks as her wheels skid on railroad tracks. Her baseball cap is a shield; her foreign identity is stigmatized by a culture ignorant of her defectorship. The gear stick rests easily within her recycled vehicle. The getaway is but one meager exercise in her compact itinerary, wherein each day bears forth reward, further earnings from her burgeoning list of successful missions. Borrowing heavily from the genre lexicon in its octane-fueled tale of lawlessness, Park Dae-min’s latest feature recounts an eerily familiar story: police corruption, a sum of valued cash, and the typical underdog trappings devise the film’s substandard structure. Special Delivery checks all the boxes one would expect from a relatively mediocre action flick, while never elaborating nor delving deeper into the motivations of its shallow antagonists.
Elsewhere, the film’s stunning Busan vistas radiate fringes of neon-induced nausea, entrapping the corrupt police force in a cat-and-mouse thriller within the realm of metropolitan waste. But through the dingy alleyways and the underbelly of fast-food chains & rolling dice, the film’s most alluring attraction remains its central archetype. At its core, Park So-dam gracefully resuscitates a predictable blockbuster with her entrancing performance. Coming after her turn in Bong Joon-ho’s globally-influential Parasite, it was bound to be that she would receive her first major role after such a monumental success, and her character and accompanying character work are by far the saving grace amidst Special Delivery’s action anonymity.
At the crux of her middling narrative conflict is an affecting internal turmoil. We experience Eun-ha’s battle with the apostasy of her North Korean identity and her troublesome relationship with the South Korean state. Indeed, the political text of Park’s film is engrossing, and So-dam injects enough charisma and wit into her complex character to highlight such nuances. Her shy smile and her stringent posture both communicate her emotional vulnerability. The film places Eun-ha in various human conflicts: a relationship with a young orphan child blossoms within the film’s junkyard of automobile carnage. As the bullets rain and the cars begin to drift, Special Delivery arrives at its final destination with standard service. The film’s packages are secured, and we’re met with the graceful arrival of a 3-star review from the consumer; safely delivered without a minute to lose.
Published as part of Fantasia Fest 2022 — Dispatch 3.
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