Derailed

Derailed

Year: 2016

Runtime: 91 mins

Language: Korean

Director: Lee Seong-tae

ActionCrime

Who is the worse guy? When two men find their lives derailed, they meet challenges that force them to face a fierce battle to protect their loved ones.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – Derailed (2016)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Derailed (2016). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Present day

Set in modern times, the film follows youths and criminals navigating the pressures of urban life. Technology, mobile phones, and fast-moving street life heighten the immediacy of the crimes and investigations. The tempo alternates between night-time escapes and high-stakes confrontations on rooftops and in bars.

Location

Urban Korea

The setting is a gritty urban landscape in contemporary Korea, where neon-lit karaoke bars, crowded streets, and dim back-alleys frame the characters' lives. Public spaces like train stations and apartment blocks become stages for pursuits, abductions, and confrontations. The city atmosphere reinforces the churn of poverty, crime, and urgency that drives the story.

🏙 City life 🔎 Street crime

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 07:53

Main Characters – Derailed (2016)

Meet the key characters of Derailed (2016), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Jin-il (Choi Min-ho)

Jin-il is the rugged, impulsive leader of a four-member youth gang who survive by odd jobs and petty crime. He oscillates between protective instincts for his friends and reckless choices that escalate danger. His resourcefulness makes him central to the gang's crimes, and his willingness to cross lines grows as the stakes rise. He ultimately acts to kidnap Sung-hoon's daughter to leverage Hyung-suk, showing a desperate, morally murky side.

🧭 Gang Leader 🗺️ Street Criminal

Ga-young (Jeong Da-eun)

Ga-young is a quick-thinking, ambitious teen drawn into the gang's schemes as a means to survive. She initiates the prostitution scam that ties her to Hyung-suk's bar, where danger and coercion loom. As the plot unfolds, she becomes a target of extortion, and her safety depends on the volatile dynamics of the group. Her resilience and adaptability keep her navigating a world where trust is scarce.

👧 Protagonist 🔒 Vulnerability

Hyung-suk (Don Lee)

Hyung-suk is a ruthless bar owner who runs a front for a brothel employing underage girls. He uses coercion and threats to control Jin-il and Ga-young, turning their desperation into profit. He relentlessly pursues payment from Sung-hoon and manipulates others to cover his tracks. His calculated, brutal methods escalate the stakes until a rooftop confrontation tests his control over the scheme.

💼 Boss 🗝️ Exploitation

Sung-hoon (Kim Jae-young)

Sung-hoon is Ga-young's former boyfriend, wealthy and dangerous, recently released from prison on a family-connected deal. He leverages his resources and henchmen to track down Hyung-suk and reclaim the money and status tied to Ga-young. He sees Ga-young as leverage and acts with a willingness to kidnap or threaten to get what he wants. His pursuit intersects with law enforcement and the others, fueling the film's climactic confrontation.

💰 Wealth 🗡️ Vengeance

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 07:53

Major Themes – Derailed (2016)

Explore the central themes of Derailed (2016), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🧭 Survival

Jin-il leads a gang of runaways who survive through petty crimes and opportunistic cons. The group relies on quick thinking and ruthless decisions to weather poverty and social neglect. The plot centers on how far they will go to stay alive, even when it means exploiting others.

👪 Family Bonds

The film foregrounds protective instincts and loyalty among troubled youths, especially Ga-young and Jin-il, who navigate trust, manipulation, and danger together. Family-like ties emerge in a world where adults exploit the vulnerable, and these bonds complicate choices. The pursuit underlined by Hyung-suk’s daughter shows how kinship and responsibility cross the boundary between crime and care.

⚖️ Justice

Police investigations intersect with the underworld's brutality, highlighting the blurred lines between law and crime. A sting operation exposes how corruption, fear, and leverage can derail attempts at justice. The ending leaves questions about accountability as the final rooftop confrontation unfolds.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 07:53

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Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Brutal Crime Descents like in Derailed

Protagonists pushed to extremes in a violent and morally gray underworld.Movies like Derailed that plunge characters into violent underworlds. If you liked the desperate struggle for survival against ruthless criminals in Derailed, you'll find similar stories of moral collapse and high-stakes conflict here.

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Narrative Summary

Stories in this thread typically begin with a protagonist, often an ordinary person or a desperate youth, being drawn into a criminal enterprise. The narrative escalates through a series of violent encounters, betrayals, and escalating stakes, forcing the character to shed their former morality to survive in a brutal environment.

Why These Movies?

These movies are grouped by their shared dark tone, high intensity, and fast pacing. They consistently explore themes of exploitation, survival, and moral ambiguity within a grim, often urban, criminal setting, creating a coherently brutal and anxious viewing experience.

Fatalistic Survival Thrillers like Derailed

Characters trapped in a downward spiral with no clear escape.Similar movies to Derailed that focus on desperate survival against impossible odds. If you were captivated by the heavy emotional weight and ambiguous, fatalistic ending of Derailed, this collection features stories with a similar oppressive and anxious mood.

fatalisticdesperateanxiousoppressivetensebleakheavy

Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern involves characters whose lives are 'derailed' by a single event or a series of misfortunes. They are thrust into a relentless struggle, often against multiple antagonistic forces, where every choice leads to further complication. The journey is a downward spiral, and the climax offers little catharsis, emphasizing the brutal and unforgiving nature of their circumstances.

Why These Movies?

These films share a heavy emotional weight, a dark and oppressive tone, and an ambiguous or bleak ending feel. The combination of desperate characters, high-tension survival scenarios, and a fatalistic worldview creates a specific, coherent vibe of anxious hopelessness.

Unlock the Full Story of Derailed

Don't stop at just watching — explore Derailed in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what Derailed is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

Derailed Summary

Read a complete plot summary of Derailed, including all key story points, character arcs, and turning points. This in-depth recap is ideal for understanding the narrative structure or reviewing what happened in the movie.

Derailed Summary

Derailed Timeline

Track the full timeline of Derailed with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.

Derailed Timeline

Derailed Spoiler-Free Summary

Get a quick, spoiler-free overview of Derailed that covers the main plot points and key details without revealing any major twists or spoilers. Perfect for those who want to know what to expect before diving in.

Derailed Spoiler-Free Summary

More About Derailed

Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about Derailed: box office results, cast and crew info, production details, post-credit scenes, and external links — all in one place for movie fans and researchers.

More About Derailed