No Tears for the Dead

Plot

Abandoned by his mother shortly after immigrating to the United States, Gon is raised by the mafia and grows up to become a cold-blooded hitman. Though usually flawless in taking out his targets, Gon makes a terrible mistake of killing an innocent young girl. Swamped by feelings of regret, guilt and shame, Gon no longer wants to be a hitman, but his boss gives him one last mission.

So Gon finds himself in South Korea, the land of the mother that abandoned him, on the trail of his last target. But in bitter irony, that target is Mo-gyeong, the mother of the dead child. Mo-gyeong is a risk manager at an investment firm who now lives in a fog of despair, caring for her senile mother while reliant on alcohol and drugs to get by following the loss of her husband and daughter. She is oblivious to her involvement in a much larger conspiracy until a man approaches her, claiming to know the truth behind her daughter's death.

Gon agonizes and faces a life or death choice ― to follow the order to kill his target or to risk his own life at the price of redemption for his past.

Production

Writer-director Lee Jeong-beom interviewed special forces troops in Korea and the United States to learn their reality and incorporate it into his screenplay.

To prepare for his role, Jang Dong-gun underwent physical training for four months at a film action school in Seoul and combat training in the United States.

Box office

No Tears for the Dead was released in South Korea on June 4, 2014. Despite its star director and actor, the film underperformed at the box office against Hollywood blockbusters X-Men: Days of Future Past and Edge of Tomorrow. It opened at fifth place on the box office, drawing 600,988 admissions.