A bag full of cash owed to a loan shark by a corrupt customs officer lands up in the hands of a shop clerk saddled with a sick but alert mother. A young escort with an abusive husband plots with her Chinese lover to bump him off in a staged car accident, but he kills the wrong man. And then there is a lady who runs a brothel but has the mind of a ruthless killer. To complete the gallery of rouges, there is a henchman working for the loan shark who has his own plans…. All these different threads are skillfully woven together to offer us a rollercoaster ride that never loses its direction or focus. Alternately funny and disturbing, this South Korean crime thriller – BEASTS CLAWING AT STRAWS (2020) by debutant Kim Yong Hoon is a sheer delight.
Streaming on MUBI.
Ranjan Das is a Mumbai based filmmaker and faculty.