Beasts Clawing at Straws (2020)

The South Korean thriller Beasts Clawing at Straws (2020) marks the feature directorial debut of Kim Yong-hoon. Based on a 2011 Japanese novel of the same name, the film is broken down into six segments, each following one of three different protagonists. The first and fourth follow a down-on-his-luck man who thinks his fortunes have changed for the better when he stumbles upon a bag full of money, unattended, in a sauna. The second and fifth find a young customs officer in debt to a powerful crime lord who concocts a scheme to fleece people wanting to leave to country. The third and sixth center around a woman working as an escort to make enough money to leave her abusive husband, and gets an offer from a wealthy businessman to be the beneficiary of his life insurance policy if she agrees to murder him. Of course, what seem like offers too good to be true in the first segment turn out to be just that in the second segment. Can these three desperate people stay just above water long enough to be able to turn things around or will the system they set out to cheat end up getting them in the end? We're not sure, but we can say that these are most assuredly the beasts clawing at straws referred to in the film's title! The film's only nudity comes just prior to the one-hour mark when Jeon Do-yeon bares her buns while exiting a pool after talking with our young escort heroine! Too bad she used a body double, but either way, those buns are steaming!