South Korean independent film “Commission” wants to explore the dark sides of artistic creation, and it succeeds to some degree. I must say that I have no idea on how realistic it actually is in the depiction of the professional field of its several main characters, but I can tell you instead that the movie mostly works as a stark but interesting thriller about talent, ambition, and recognition, and it will surely leave you a lot of things to reflect on later. 

Via the narration of Dan-kyeong (Kim Hyun-soo), the opening part of the film quickly establishes how miserable she has been for many years. She has aspired to be recognized and then admired just like her older sister Joo-kyeong (Kim Yong-ji), but, alas, her dream still seems to be beyond her reach as before. Even when they were young, Joo-kyeong drew much better than her younger sister, and now she is a very successful figure in South Korean online graphic novel, which is incidentally called “webtoon”.   

 In contrast, Dan-kyeong merely works as an instructor in a private art academy, and she feels all the more inferior about herself when one of her colleagues, who is also an aspiring webtoon writer just like Dan-kyeong, happens to have a big break for her career. As feeling quite depressed and resentful, Dan-kyeong impulsively decides to commit a very unpleasant act of copyright infringement as commissioned by someone on one illegal website, just because 1) that pays her fairly well and 2) she actually enjoyed becoming more artistically creative than usual. 

Needless to say, Dan-kyeong soon finds herself sued by that colleague of hers, but her older sister quickly takes care of this problem even though there is not much affection between them. Joo-kyeong later suggests to her younger sister that she should work under Joo-kyeong’s well-respected mentor, and Dan-kyeong accepts this offer mainly because she needs the money for the legal settlement right now.

Right from the first day at the house of Joo-kyeong’s mentor, Dan-kyeong struggles to make a good impression on him and his two apprentices, but things beome gradually improved for her as days go by. Although the amount of the tasks for her is often quite daunting to say the least, she keeps trying to assist him as much as possible, and Joo-kyeong’s mentor comes to show some recognition to her diligent efforts.

However, she gets tempted when one of the apprentices introduces her to a certain Japanese dark website, which is filled with a lot of weirdos and perverts willing to pay for any kind of drawing to satisfy their unspeakable desires. When she receives a commission not long after entering this atrocious website, Dan-kyeong naturally hesitates at first, but she possibly cannot say no when the figure behind that commission offers a considerable amount of money.

As subsequently getting more and more commissions from the website, Dan-kyeong feels a lot more recognized and appreciated than ever, and this certainly boosts her ego and spirit a lot. As a result, she becomes more active at her current workplace, and Joo-kyeong’s mentor seems more willing to support and encourage her as he is about to make a big comeback via his ambitious science fiction graphic novel project.  

Of course, Dan-kyeong soon comes to face the price she must pay for artistic recognition. That guy who gave her first commission turns out to be quite psychotic to say the least, and Dan-kyeong is horrified after this figure committed a heinous murder exactly inspired by what she drew for him. To this figure, the murder is an act of response and appreciation to her artistic creation presented on that website, and Dan-kyeong certainly feels more cornered and conflicted as the police begin to investigate that website. She certainly does not get caught for her dark web activities, but she also cannot help but feel the need to hold onto her authorship – especially when Joo-kyeong keeps reminding her again of how mediocre she is compared to Dan-kyeong.

 Around the narrative point where the killer finally appears on the screen expected, the screenplay by director/writer Shin Jae-min, who incidentally made a feature film debut here in this film, takes several unexpected plot turns. As a result, it becomes less suspenseful than before, but the movie throws some interesting thoughts on talent and authorship as well as artistic moral responsibility, and this compensates for its overlong ending to some degree. Never overlooking the disturbing aspects of its heroine’s horrendous artistic activities, the movie wisely avoids unnecessary sensationalism even in the end, and you will remember more of its heroine’s moral descent along the story.  

The cast members of the movie are well-cast in their respective parts. Although her charccter becomes more distant and unlikable to us along the story, Kim Hyun-soo’s good performance keeps us engaged in what may happen next, and she and Kim Yong-ji often make an interesting contrast with each other during their several key scenes in the film. Several other cast members including Nam Myung-ryul and Joo Suk-tae hold each own place around the story, and Kim Jin-woo did a good job of embodying the vile qualities of his killer character.

In conclusion, “Commission” is a solid genre work which handles its touchy main subject with enough skill and restraint. It is surely not something you can casually watch on Sunday afternoon, but it is still worthwhile to watch for its thought-provoking aspects, and you will be chilled as wondering more about whatever may exist on those dark corners of the Internet.