This is a true story...

1986 to 1991: in a small town outside Seoul, over the course of six years 10 women are raped and murdered in a radius of just 2km. Against a backdrop of air raid drills and fear of invasion from the north, South Korean society's first serial killer takes the lives of 10 victims, ranging from a 71 year-old grandmother to a 13 year old schoolgirl.

At a time in South Korea when a murder investigation only meant grilling those who knew the victim, for these officers everything was a new experience. There was no profiling mechanism, nor any idea of preserving the crime scene for forensic investigation. Only search and interrogation based on the detectives' sense of duty and persistence.

In this age of ignorance and with South Korea still under a dictatorship, two detectives at the bottom of an ill-supported police force have only themselves to rely on to face this horrific series of events....

Bong Joon-ho's classy thriller, the highest-grossing Korean film in 2003, won a trio of prizes at the Grand Bell Awards for Best Actor (Song Kang-ho), Best Director and Best Film.