Plot[edit]
A Christian musical procession waits outside a prison for Lee Geum-ja (Lee Young-ae), a recently reformed female prisoner, who had been convicted of murdering a young schoolboy, Won-mo. The case, a national sensation because of her young age at the time of the murder and innocent appearance, earns her a lengthy prison sentence, reduced because of her apparent spiritual transformation in prison and her good conduct toward other inmates, results in the nickname of the "Kind-Hearted Geum-Ja". As Lee Geum-ja emerges from prison, she immediately sidesteps the procession, intent on revenge.
Mr. Baek (Choi Min-sik) extorts the aid of Lee Geum-ja, who aided him in the kidnapping of the murdered five-year-old child. It is implied in the movie that she was not the one who committed the murder as she was not aware of the missing marble or the colour of the pillow that was used as the murder weapon. In a formal re-enactment of the crime scene she had to take a hint from the case detective to decide the correct colour pillow to use on a mannequin. Lee Geum-ja confesses to the crime by order of Mr. Baek, who kidnapped and threatened to murder her newborn daughter if she were to refuse to aid him. Inside prison, Geum-ja makes a number of friends with her angelic, maternal demeanour, donating a kidney to one inmate, tenderly caring for others and poisoning the prison bully. Once paroled, Geum-Ja immediately visits the other paroled inmates, calling in favours that include food, shelter, and weapons. She also begins work at a local pastry shop, under the tutelage of a chef who previously volunteered at the prison. Further distancing herself from her kindhearted reputation, she wears red eye shadow, provocative high-heel pumps and chronically dreams about murdering Mr. Baek.
Geum-ja researches her daughter and discovers that she was adopted by Australian parents. Jenny, now a teenager, does not speak Korean and does not initially embrace her mother. After persuading her family to allow her to return to Seoul from Sydney, Jenny follows Geum-ja around the city as she plans to kidnap Mr. Baek with the help of his wife, another ex-convict. As these events unfold, Mr. Baek, who is now a children's teacher at a local preschool, discovers that Geum-ja is released and - aware of her plans - attacks his wife and hires thugs to ambush Geum-ja and Jenny. In the ensuing battle, Geum-ja kills both thugs, while Mr. Baek falls unconscious from the drugs that were slipped into his food by his wife.
Geum-ja, eager yet hesitant to kill the unconscious Mr. Baek, discovers several children's trinkets decorating his cell phone. Remembering that his modus operandiinvolved stealing an orange marble from Won-Mo following his murder, Geum-ja realises that they are souvenirs from victims and deduces that Mr. Baek murdered other children as well. She imprisons him and contacts the detective from the Won-Mo case, and they infiltrate Mr. Baek's apartment together and discover snuff tapes of the other children that Mr. Baek murdered.
Geum-ja and the detective contact and transport the parents or surviving relatives of the missing children to an abandoned school on the outskirts of Seoul. After showing them the tapes, the group deliberates on Mr. Baek's fate, ultimately deciding to murder him collectively, with the audio of their discussion amplified for him to hear. Wearing raincoats and wielding a variety of weapons, they approach Mr. Baek individually and torture him while the last person, an emotionless grandmother, kills Baek with the scissors of her murdered grand daughter. They take a group photo, ensuring that none of them can turn in the others without implicating themselves, and then bury the corpse outside.
Geum-ja, the investigator, and the parents all converge on Geum-ja's bakery, where they eat a cake and sing a collective birthday song for their deceased children. Afterwards, Geum-ja sees the ghost of the murdered child and demands long-awaited redemption. Before she can do so, he transforms into his grown self (the age that he would have been if he had lived) and then gags her before she can repent. When Geum-ja later approaches her apartment with a cake box, she notices Jenny. They embrace before Geum-ja opens the box to reveal a white cake that resembles a block of tofu. She instructs her daughter to "live white", as pure as tofu. Jenny tastes the cake and says Geum-ja should live even more purely. As they stare up into the snowy sky, Geum-ja weeps and sobs uncontrollably, her face buried in the white cake, while Jenny hugs her.
Cast[edit]
- Lee Young-ae as Lee Geum-ja
- Choi Min-sik as Mr. Baek (Baek Han-sang)
- Kwon Yea-young as Jenny
- Kim Shi-hoo as Geun-shik
- Oh Dal-su as Mr. Chang
- Lee Seung-shin as Park Yi-jeong
- Go Soo-hee as Ma-nyeo ("Witch")
- Kim Byeong-ok as The Preacher
- Ra Mi-ran as Oh Su-hee
- Seo Young-ju as Kim Yang-hee
- Kim Boo-seon as Woo So-young
- Ko Chang-seok as So-young's husband
- Lee Dae-yeon as parent of abducted child
- Nam Il-woo as Detective Choi
- Kim Hee-soo as Se-hyun
- Oh Gwang-rok as Se-hyun's father
- Lee Byung-joon as Dong-hwa
- Choi Jung-woo as Dong-hwa's father
- Ryoo Seung-wan as passerby
- Song Kang-ho as assassin 1
- Shin Ha-kyun as assassin 2
- Yoo Ji-tae as grown-up Won-mo, as seen in a vision
- Seo Ji-hee as Eun-joo
- Won Mi-won as Eun-joo's grandmother
- Kim Ik-tae as Won-mo's father
- Kim Yoo-jung as Jae-kyung
- Im Soo-kyung as prison officer
- Yoon Jin-seo as prisoner
- Choi Hee-jin as prisoner 3
- Jeon Sung-ae as prisoner 4
- Kim Jin-goo as Ko Seon-sook
- Kang Hye-jung as TV announcer
- Tony Barry as Jenny's adoptive father
- Anne Cordiner as Jenny's adoptive mothe
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