Crisis negotiator Ha Chae-youn (Son Ye-jin) attempts to resign from the Seoul police after a hostage situation she was attempting to defuse goes awry and a civilian woman dies in her arms. Instead of accepting this resignation, however, her superiors assign her to handle another crisis: international arms dealer Min Tae-gu (Hyun Bin) has taken several Korean nationals hostage in Southeast Asia, and will only negotiate with Chae-youn.
In the following hours, Chae-youn tries to understand Tae-gu's thought process and motives as law enforcement races to save the hostages.
The 2022 film Godse is a Telugu-language remake.
Tropes:
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Koo Gwan-su, CEO of Nine Electronics, is also a black market arms dealer with several fingers in the intelligence pie. He "came forward" with his tax evasion and was even rewarded by the government for his honesty.
- Death of a Child: Exploited. Tae-gu specifically takes several children hostage because he knows that their deaths would reflect much worse on Korean law enforcement than those of adults.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Hyun-ju dies in the arms of the crisis negotiator who was trying to save her, Chae-youn. This event shakes Chae-youn so badly that she tries to quit.
- Dirty Cop: Hwang Soo-suk, the Chief of National Security, is in deep with a criminal syndicate.
- Due to the Dead: At the end of the film Chae-youn and Hyuk-su make makeshift memorials for the deceased Min siblings.
- Holiday in Cambodia: Tae-gu is based in the Malacca Strait and sells arms to various criminal syndicates around Southeast Asia. He's kidnapped several Koreans from Bangkok and is holding them somewhere there.
- Hostage Situation: The entire plot is based around the interactions of a crisis negotiator and the hostage taker she's trying to crack.
- It's All My Fault: Tae-gu blames himself for Hyun-ju's death, since he had planned for her to steal files about high-profile art theft from Koo — not knowing that Koo would kill her to cover up said art theft.
- The Mole: Seemingly normal reporter Lee Su-mok is an agent of the NIS sent to spy on Tae-gu's organization.
- Not So Remote: Part of what makes this such a stressful hostage situation is that the hostage-taker is somewhere in the Malacca Strait, and the cops negotiating with him are in Seoul. It turns out he is also in Seoul.
- The Reveal: Why does Tae-gu only want to negotiate with Chae-youn? His sister, Hyun-ju, was in cahoots with him when she died in Chae-youn's arms, and he wants her to realize that there was much more to her death.
- Suicide by Cop: In the final minutes of the movie, Chae-youn, knowing that snipers are in the vicinity, offers Tae-gu an out: he can come with her and cooperate in the investigation to gain justice for his sister. However, he instead decides to aim a gun at one of the hostages, sealing his fate.
- Swiss Bank Account: Shady CEO Koo Gwan-su has a sufficiently shady Swiss account that Tae-gu asks him to restore as one of his conditions.
