Time Renegades

Time Renegades

Year: 2016

Runtime: 107 mins

Language: Korean

Director: Kwak Jae-yong

FantasyThrillerDramaRomance

A high school teacher in 1983 and a detective in 1983 find their dreams inexplicably linked, creating a window between two different worlds. They must work together across the years to alter the dangerous destiny of a woman they both care for, despite the 30-year gap separating them.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – Time Renegades (2016)

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

Time period

1983, 2015

The narrative hops between 1983 and 2015, anchored by a New Year's Eve incident in each era. It contrasts a youthful tragedy with a present-day investigation, using dream-visions to connect the decades and reveal clues across time.

Location

Seoul, South Korea

Set in a busy modern city, the story unfolds through crowded streets, hospital corridors, and school campuses during New Year's Eve. The urban backdrop provides a dynamic mix of public spaces and intimate moments that tie the two timelines together. The city itself acts as a canvas for the film's time-bending mystery.

❄️ Urban 🎭 Drama 🌆 City life

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 06:26

Main Characters – Time Renegades (2016)

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

Ji-hwan (Cho Jung-seok)

A devoted high school teacher and fiancé to Yoon-Jung. His attempt to protect her ends in a fatal stabbing, and his memory becomes a guiding force in the present-day investigation. He is driven, protective, and willing to fight for justice beyond death.

🎯 Hero 🕊️ Protector

Gun-woo (Lee Jin-uk)

A rookie detective who wrestles with the impulse to shoot during a New Year’s Eve chase. He experiences cross-time visions with Ji-hwan, and uses dream-derived clues to piece together a cold-case spanning decades. He is persistent, curious, and morally driven.

🧭 Detective 🧠 Curious

Yoon-Jung / So-Eun (Lim Soo-jung)

Yoon-Jung is Ji-hwan’s fiancée who is murdered in 1983, triggering the investigation. So-Eun, a school worker who is mistaken for a flasher, later becomes a crucial ally to Gun-woo as the timeline unfolds. Together, their fates illuminate the film’s mystery across time.

🎗️ Victim 🤝 Ally

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 06:26

Major Themes – Time Renegades (2016)

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

🕰️ Time Link

The film threads two decades together through shared memories and visions. Dreams bridge events across time, guiding actions in the present based on past experiences. The core idea is that past and present illuminate each other's mysteries.

🔎 Investigation

Cold-case detective work drives the plot as Gun-woo uncovers clues that cross time. Surveillance footage, misidentifications, and repeated patterns pull both eras toward a singular truth. Collaboration between generations is essential to solving the mystery.

🧩 Cross-Time Bond

The protagonists' fates become intertwined through the dream-derived revelations. So-Eun's actions connect with Ji-hwan's past and Gun-woo's present, weaving personal ties into the puzzle. The film emphasizes cooperation, memory, and courage across time.

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 06:26

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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.

Fatalistic Time-Travel Thrillers like Time Renegades

Characters use time travel to prevent a tragic destiny, raising the stakes.If you liked the desperate race against destiny in Time Renegades, explore more movies where characters use time travel to prevent a tragic event. These stories share a tense, investigative mood, complex timelines, and a heavy emotional weight centered on loss and fate.

fatalisticurgentinvestigativesuspensefulmelancholicmind-bending

Narrative Summary

Narratives in this thread typically involve a protagonist who discovers a window to the past or future, revealing an impending tragedy. The plot becomes a puzzle, forcing them to piece together clues across different timelines to alter a fixed point in destiny, often facing moral dilemmas and unintended consequences.

Why These Movies?

Movies are grouped here for their shared core premise: using time manipulation as a tool to solve a crime or prevent a death, all under the shadow of fatalism. They combine the intellectual engagement of a mystery with the emotional urgency of a tragedy, creating a uniquely suspenseful experience.

Melancholic Crime Investigations like Time Renegades

A somber investigation is deeply personal, driven by love and loss.For viewers who enjoyed the high personal stakes and melancholic tone of Time Renegades, this list features movies where detectives or investigators are emotionally invested in the case, often because of a romantic connection, creating a suspenseful and heavy dramatic experience.

melancholicsuspensefulinvestigativeurgentfatalistictragic romance

Narrative Summary

The narrative follows an investigator—official or amateur—whose drive to solve a mystery is intrinsically linked to protecting or avenging someone they love. The investigation is interwoven with a romantic or deeply personal storyline, creating a dual narrative of external suspense and internal emotional turmoil.

Why These Movies?

These films are connected by their fusion of the crime thriller genre with a heavy, romantic drama. The central investigation feels urgent and poignant because the outcome directly impacts the protagonist's emotional world, resulting in a consistently tense and melancholic viewer experience.

Unlock the Full Story of Time Renegades

Don't stop at just watching — explore Time Renegades 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 Time Renegades is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

Time Renegades Summary

Read a complete plot summary of Time Renegades, 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.

Time Renegades Summary

Time Renegades Timeline

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

Time Renegades Timeline

Time Renegades Spoiler-Free Summary

Get a quick, spoiler-free overview of Time Renegades 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.

Time Renegades Spoiler-Free Summary

More About Time Renegades

Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about Time Renegades: 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 Time Renegades