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The Old Woman with the Knife

Play trailer 1:21 Poster for The Old Woman with the Knife May 2025 2h 11m Action Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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92% Tomatometer 26 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Aging assassin Hornclaw has seen it all, but she never expected to mentor a reckless rookie like Bullfight. As their unlikely bond deepens, cracks form in the underworld they navigate together. When Hornclaw discovers someone wants her dead, she's thrust into a deadly game of deception. With enemies closing in and trust in short supply, survival means staying sharp--both blade and mind.
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The Old Woman with the Knife

The Old Woman with the Knife

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Critics Consensus

Visually slick, thrillingly bloody, and provocatively intense, The Old Woman with the Knife is elevated by Lee Hye-Young's ferociously compelling performance.

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Critics Reviews

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Siddhant Adlakha Variety Mar 23
While it features an enticing premise, slotting a 65-year-old woman into the underground assassin genre (a position usually reserved for grizzled men and young vixens), its story has an inordinate amount of detail, which the film metes out in awkward ways Go to Full Review Wendy Ide Screen International Mar 17
There’s plenty that is familiar in this extravagantly bloody action picture. But Lee is terrifyingly effective in the role, and the fight sequences are impressively visceral. Go to Full Review Rich Cline Shadows on the Wall Dec 2
3/5
The action and drama are sharply directed by Min Kyu-dong and played with plenty of emotional spark. Go to Full Review Karina Adelgaard Heaven of Horror Nov 25
4/5
...a gorgeous genre-mix that I initially liked, but the ending was much better than I ever expected. Go to Full Review Katie Smith-Wong Flick Feast Jun 9
4/5
A compelling, bloody and intense thriller that shows heroines come in all ages with Lee Hye-young shining as a badass. Go to Full Review Joshua Polanski In Review Online Jun 6
[Full of] choppy flashbacks [that] only distract from the already disappointing action, while also failing in their bid to add earnest emotion. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Paul May 17 Riveting and very suspenseful See more Depechemark Nov 30 Great movie! She's so good! But there's no reason this movie had to be 2 hours and 5 minutes. This easily could have been 90 minutes. AND the ending made absolutely no sense. So he wanted to kill her but then as he's dying it's revealed that he actually wanted to go with her when he was a kid like to be his new mom or something, and she says later when he's older? So if that's all he wanted, why want to kill her, threaten the vet's family, kidnap the girl, and then beat her up and almost kill her? Whaaaaat? Then she realizes it and goes over to him and holds him in her lap as he's dying and basically says why didn't you tell me and he said because he was scared? So because he was scared to tell her he instead tries to kill her? Again, whaaaaat? Storyline would have been better If he was a little angry and midway through they had a fight or something, then that realization happened, then they joined forces or something. It's almost like, did anyone really read the script and realize the ending made no sense? It's like, "I'm an adult now and I'm angry because you left me when I was a kid, I'm going to try to kill you, intimidated a family, kidnap a girl, hire 25 men to kill you with guns, fight you myself, punch and stab you and almost kill you, all because I was scared to tell you I was the kid from 25 years ago whose father beat me and you protected me by killing him and I wanted to go with you but you said find me later and I did but was afraid you wouldn't remember me." ??? See more Victor A May 29 The Old Woman with the Knife is a captivating thriller filled with intrigue, revenge, and some great fighting sequences! Lee Hye-young is incredible in this! The cinematography in some scenes is just beautiful. This is a terrific action movie with a few twists that might catch the audience off guard. The Old Woman with the Knife is destined to become a martial arts classic. See more Marc S May 17 Finally an action movie that doesn’t insult one’s intelligence! See more Read all reviews
The Old Woman with the Knife

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Cast & Crew

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Min Kyu-dong

Director

Lee Hye-young

Hornclaw

Shin Sia

Young Hornclaw

Sung-Cheol Kim

Tuu

Yeon Woo-jin

Dr. Kang

Kim Mu-yeol

Ryoo

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The Old Woman with the Knife

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The Old Woman with the Knife

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Movie Info

Synopsis Aging assassin Hornclaw has seen it all, but she never expected to mentor a reckless rookie like Bullfight. As their unlikely bond deepens, cracks form in the underworld they navigate together. When Hornclaw discovers someone wants her dead, she's thrust into a deadly game of deception. With enemies closing in and trust in short supply, survival means staying sharp--both blade and mind.
Director
Min Kyu-dong
Producer
Min Jin-soo
Screenwriter
Min Kyu-dong, Kim Dong-wan
Distributor
Well Go USA Entertainment
Production Co
SooFilm
Genre
Action, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
Korean
Release Date (Theaters)
May 16, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 25, 2025
Runtime
2h 11m
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