West 32nd

West 32nd

Year: 2007

Runtime: 86 mins

Language: Korean

Director: Michael Kang

CrimeThriller

When ambitious young lawyer John Kim accepts a pro bono case to free a fourteen‑year‑old accused of first‑degree murder, the investigation pulls him deep into Manhattan’s hidden Korean underworld. On a single city block he discovers a secret realm of crime, loyalty, and danger that challenges his ideals.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline – West 32nd (2007)

Trace every key event in West 32nd (2007) with our detailed, chronological timeline. Perfect for unpacking nonlinear stories, spotting hidden connections, and understanding how each scene builds toward the film’s climax. Whether you're revisiting or decoding for the first time, this timeline gives you the full picture.

1

Opening: Chun Jin-ho's room salon empire

In Koreatown's neon-lit room salon, Chun Jin-ho runs a money-laundering hub for the Korean mafia, keeping customers entertained and transactions hidden. Sook Hee is introduced as his mistress, moving with practiced warmth through the room. The scene establishes a delicate balance of control, danger, and calculated charm that defines Chun's world.

Room salon, Koreatown, New York
2

Chun Jin-ho's murder

Chun is killed as a car ambush erupts; an attacker cuts him off and gunfire erupts in the street, ending his life in the passenger seat. The fatal moment shatters the underworld's balance and triggers a legal and personal unraveling. The city hums on as the power vacuum forms a new battleground.

Night Outside the room salon, street
3

Kim takes Kevin Lee defense

The ambitious young lawyer John Kim agrees to defend Kevin Lee pro bono, stepping into a dangerous case against a criminal empire. He brings quiet optimism but understands the weight of challenging a powerful network. The decision pulls him into a frontier he has yet to fully navigate.

Kim's law firm
4

Kim meets Lila Lee

Kim sits down with Kevin's older sister, Lila Lee, at the Lee family table, hearing of the personal cost and the stakes. He carries a cautious optimism while sensing looming consequences for both families. The encounter marks the start of a tense, uneasy alliance.

Lee family home
5

Kim meets Juhn in a bar

Kim encounters Juhn, a mid-level operator who knows the room salon's power structure, in a bar and begins to see him as a potential ally. Their dialogue hints at mutual benefits and hidden dangers. They trade information and press for leverage as the case deepens.

Bar
6

Detective Park watches outsiders

Detective Park keeps a wary eye on Kim and Juhn, reminding them that his territory is dangerous and outsiders don’t belong. His guarded presence foreshadows a hard-edged vigilance that frames every move. The tension between law and underworld authority becomes palpable.

Police precinct
7

Hee's testimony via translator

Hee, Chun's former confidante who speaks no English, is guided by a translator to recount the night of the murder. The carefully reconstructed testimony links Juhn to the crime scene and unsettles Kim's assumptions. The process exposes how memory and silence shape the case.

Interview room with translator
8

Lila confronts truth and shields Juhn

Lila spirals as Hee's testimony implicates Juhn; she contemplates exposing him but chooses to shield her brother to protect the family. This decision fractures the family’s loyalties and reshapes Kim's strategic calculus. The personal cost of truth tests every alliance.

Lee family home
9

Raid on the room salon

Saeng and Juhn's crew launch a coordinated raid on the Room salon, triggering a brutal firefight that leaves Kyuc and Detective Park dead and Danny wounded. Juhn commands Saeng to seize the money while racing to locate Hee, aiming to erase a crucial thread of truth. The underworld's grip tightens as the stakes rise.

Room salon
10

Hee disappears; Juhn murders Hee

Hee vanishes in the aftermath of the raid, and Juhn conducts a brutal personal search. He ultimately confronts and murders Hee at her home, erasing a key source of truth that could unravel his operation. The violence leaves Kim with fewer anchors and a harsher path forward.

After raid Hee's home
11

Danny's call and trust fractures

Kim receives a late-night, terrified call from Danny about the day’s chaos. He learns of Hee's fate, and the cascade of consequences deepens the rift between Kim and Lila. The case becomes as personal as it is legal, with loyalties under severe strain.

Late night Kim's office
12

Juhn's confession and Kim's leverage

Juhn reveals enough about the murder to cast doubt on Kevin's guilt, while Kim secures a recording that could shift the entire case. These revelations raise the stakes and complicate any clean-cut path to conviction. The balance of power begins to tilt toward truth, but at a high personal cost.

Kim's office
13

Kim fights to turn a witness

Kim pushes to convert a key witness into a cornerstone of truth as the legal battle tightens around what is real and what is convenient. He edges closer to a procedural victory, but the path remains fraught with risk and shifting loyalties. The courtroom becomes a battlefield for both evidence and will.

Courtroom
14

Lila's gesture and professional pragmatism

Lila arrives with a box of tangerines as a gesture of thanks for sparing her brother’s future, and Kim discards it, signaling that personal loyalties and professional necessity have become inseparable. The moment crystallizes the uneasy truce between family and justice. The dynamic underscores the film’s theme that truth is often filtered through relationships.

Kim's office
15

Final image: fate and the rearview mirror

Juhn regains control of the Room salon, resuming the old rhythms of power and risk as the city watches. His phone rings unanswered, and he stares into the rearview mirror, the future bending toward an uncertain, possibly irreversible fate. The closing image leaves the moral landscape unsettled and the line between legality and crime blurred.

Juhn's car

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 16:26

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