The Assassins Review Roundup! From the True Story Inspiration to the Ending, Key Points, and Post-credits Scenes

A complete review of *The Assassins*! I’ve summarized everything in one go, from the true story motif of the 1974 assassination of the First Lady to the plot, ending, and post-credits scene, as well as key viewing points, box office performance, and the controversy over historical distortion.

The poster you see the most at the theater these days is none other than *Assassination(s)* 🔥

I saw that so many people went to see this movie during the Chuseok holiday!

But after watching it, there are many people who left feeling unsatisfied, asking, "So who is the killer?", and with a controversy over historical distortion even erupting online, it has become the hottest movie right now. 😭

So today, I’ve put together a complete review of *The Assassins*, covering everything from the true-story background to the ending and even the post-credits scene ✨

(⚠️ Please be advised that there are spoilers for the ending!)

1. Start by checking the basic information of the assassin(s).

Let's take a quick look at the basics first 💡

supervision	(Christmas in August, One Fine Spring Day, The Last Princess, Forbidden Dream, Ordinary Family)
Appearance	Yoo Hae-jin, Park Hae-il, Lee Min-ho, Park Jung-min, and others
Genre	Mystery thriller, period drama
Release	September 23, 2026
Rating / Running Time	Rated 12 / 131 minutes
Film festival	Invited to the Gala Presentation at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival, Runner-up for the International Audience Award
cookie	1

The reason for the parentheses in the title is also interesting!

It means they won't conclude whether there is one assassin or multiple. I heard the director said he absolutely refused to change this notation since the planning stage over 10 years ago. 👀

2. Based on a true story, the 1974 assassination attempt on the First Lady

The movie is based on the true event in which First Lady Yuk Young-soo was shot and killed at the Liberation Day celebration held at the National Theater in Jangchung-dong, Seoul, on August 15, 1974. It deals with.

The official conclusion is It was a lone crime targeting the President committed by Mun Se-gwang, a second-generation Korean resident in Japan, acting on orders from North Korea and Chongryon, and the death penalty was carried out in December of that year. That's enough.

However, these suspicions have continued to be raised for over 50 years. They said it came back 😮

The number of gunshots heard does not match the number of recovered bullets.

The owner of the fatal bullet is unclear

It is questionable how a person without a pass entered.

All the characters in the movie are fictional. The culprit is 'Moon Tae-kwang' (Park Jung-min), and the newspaper was also changed to the fictional 'Dongseong Ilbo,' a fact revealed at the beginning of the film.

3. Plot: 6 Gunshots, 2 Missing Bullets

Detective Cheol-gu (Yoo Hae-jin), in charge of security at the scene, blocked a young man attempting to enter without a pass, but eventually let him in on the orders of the Chief of Presidential Security (Uhm Tae-woong). That young man is the culprit. It was 😱

Instead, he takes the blame for the security failure and faces the risk of dismissal.

Young-il (Lee Min-ho), a rookie reporter at the scene, heard another gunshot even after the culprit was subdued, and Jae-hwan (Park Hae-il), the head of the social affairs department, also had doubts about the official announcement. Embrace.

The key clue is six gunshots, but only four bullets were recovered.

The supporting cast lineup is seriously insane, too ✨

Park Ji-hwan, Park Hoon, Uhm Ji-won, Ryu Hye-young, Kim Dae-myung, Park Sung-hoon, Choi Yuri, Shim Eun-kyung, Park Hae-joon, Jung Woo-sung, Oh Jung-se, Shin Hyun-bin, Ryu Kyung-soo, and others appeared intensely in one or two scenes each.

4. Ending & Post-credits Scene (Spoiler Alert ⚠️)

As they get closer to the truth, Cheol-gu's family is threatened, and Kang-ja (Shim Eun-kyung), who was helping Young-il, also becomes endangered.

Under pressure from a Central Intelligence Agency agent (Park Hoon), Jae-hwan eventually steps forward to issue the Declaration of Free Press.

Cheol-gu shouts at Moon Tae-gwang to tell the truth as he is being dragged away from the courtroom. At that moment, the face of an accomplice watching from a distance is briefly shown, and it is none other than Yoo Yeon-seok. It is 😳

The episode ends 15 years later with a scene where Chief Forensic Officer Hyun-do (Park Ji-hwan) testifies in court about the two missing bullets.

The post-credits scene overlays the sound of six gunshots onto actual footage of the 1974 celebration. Ultimately, it ends with an open ending, failing to confirm the mastermind.

5. Highlights & Mixed Reviews

The most acclaimed scene is Cheol-gu's chase sequence. It is 🔥

The rhythmic sound of typewriter students typing blends into the chase scene climbing the stairs, and the tension explodes through the visuals and sound. I heard the director also revealed that he wanted to shoot this scene in a cinematic way.

The reactions are definitely divided.

👍 Reviews praising the mystery plot development in the early and mid-sections, the actors' performances, and the visual quality.

👎 Reviews say the momentum drops in the second half as the emotional and melodramatic direction intensifies.

One critic gave it 3 stars and evaluated that it densely delves into the gaps in the case.

6. Box Office Performance and Controversy Over History Distortion

Despite the controversy, it's sailing smoothly at the box office 📈

With 1,407,634 viewers during the Chuseok holiday (September 24–27) alone, it took the number one spot at the box office, and the cumulative audience has surpassed 1,566,160. With a lead of nearly double that of the second-place film, *Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub* (710,484 viewers), breaking the 2 million mark is also anticipated. They say it works.

However, there is also a heated debate regarding the ending.

Broadcaster Hong Hye-geol expressed discomfort, calling it a far-fetched conspiracy theory while the bereaved family is still alive, while Representative Joo Jin-woo strongly criticized the distortion of the mastermind behind the incident. i did it.

Film critic Lee Dong-jin's YouTube reviews are also drawing attention as they are criticized for differing from past criticism standards. It became.

On the other hand, Director Hur Jin-ho explained that he did not conclude any of the various hypotheses were factual because he could not verify them. Ultimately, the judgment has been left to each individual audience member. 🤔