There is an explosion in a drug-manufacturing lab owned by Asia’s biggest drug cartels. Yeon-ok (Kim Sung-ryung) believes that the explosion was intended to kill her, and approaches detective Won-ho (Cho Jin-woong) with information on her boss, Mr. Lee. To bring down the cartel, Won-ho teams up with the sole survivor of the explosion, Rak (Ryu Jun-yeol), in an attempt to infiltrate it. Rak lost everything when the cartel abandoned him, and his insight proves helpful, but the identity of Mr. Lee remains a mystery. A remake of Johnnie To’s Drug War (2013), Believer starts in Korea, but is not fixated on staying there. The surreal settings of the drug lab and glamorous hotels sustain the filmic tone, and the fast-paced editing and ostentatious soundtrack add to the illusion of the film. Unlike her past films that delved deep into the character’s emotions, director Lee Hae-young focuses on staying true to genre, especially through the stylish visuals. She skillfully delivers the tension of deception, exploding images, and a tightly packed storyline. (Song Kyong Won)