If there’s one point thatThe Man Standing Nextdrills on, its that power makes people do wild things.
Central to the story is Kim Gyu-pyeong (Lee Byung-hun), head of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency.
As ambitions start to rear their heads, alliances simultaneously fall apart and thats when things become incredibly calculated.
Image via Showbox
The true beauty ofThe Man Standing Nextlies in the way it combines real-life history with layers of suspense.
Each detail offers some insight into thesheer paranoiathat fueled the betrayals that defined this turbulent political chapter ofSouth Koreanhistory.
By no means is this a run-of-the-mill political thriller.
Image via Showbox
In fact,The Man Standing Nextis as methodical as they come, drawing viewers in withtop-shelf storytelling.
In the film, Kim Gyu-pyeong is forced to navigate a minefield of shifting alliances.
He does all this knowing full well thatbetrayalis practically a job requirement in President Parks regime.
The latter defects to the U.S. and threatens to expose the regimes darkest secrets.
By the time Kim takes action, its clear that survival grossly outweighs sentimentality in their cutthroat world.
Let’s get dangerously diplomatic.
Even President Park, whose position should make him untouchable, becomes a victim of his own paranoia.
Over time, his growing mistrust of everyone pushes even his most trustworthy allies away.
The result is a dangerous domino effect thatspells out his downfall.
In one telling moment, Parks desperation to maintain control leads him to alienate Kim.
Needless to say, thats a wrong move since hes the very man keeping his regime intact.
For instance, the evolution of Kim Gyu-pyeong.
He starts off wanting to play the political game with at least a shred of integrity.
However, it becomes increasingly evident that holding onto both his influence and hismoral compassis impossible.
Take the scenes with the whistleblower, Park Yong-gak Kims orders are to handle the situation.
The tension arises from watching him wrestle with the lengths hed be willing to go.
This tiny, but powerful, detail is proof that he feels the unnatural weight of his decisions.
Even President Park himself is a study of what happens when power and morality go head-to-head.
In the process, he pushes them closer to their individual moral breaking points.
The tragic irony here is that his pursuit of absolute control is what puts thefinal nail in his coffin.
