Inside Men (film)

Two years before the 2012 presidential election, ambitious prosecutor Woo Jang-hoon is assigned to investigate leading presidential candidate Jang Pil-woo's secret slush fund. A former accounting manager agrees to hand over incriminating files, but he is kidnapped by gangster Ahn Sang-goo, who steals the evidence for influential newspaper editor Lee Kang-hee. Trusting Lee completely, Sang-goo gives him a copy of the original files. Soon afterward, however, Sang-goo discovers he has been betrayed. Lee secretly exposes his actions to Pil-woo's associates, and Sang-goo is brutally tortured by Managing Director Jo, who severs his right hand before having him locked away in a psychiatric hospital to disappear.

Two years later, Sang-goo has escaped the institution and lives in obscurity while secretly plotting revenge against the men who ruined him. Meanwhile, Jang-hoon suffers a professional setback after a bank executive under investigation commits suicide, leaving behind a note blaming the prosecution. Suspended from active duty, Jang-hoon begins investigating Sang-goo independently. Sang-goo attempts to expose the conspirators by secretly recording their sex parties with hidden cameras, but the plan fails as Lee stays one step ahead, leading to the capture and torture of Sang-goo's associate, Park Jong-pal.

After Jo's men track Sang-goo down, Jang-hoon rescues him during a violent confrontation and hides him in his father's old bookstore. The pair form an alliance when Sang-goo reveals that he has secretly kept the original slush fund files hidden inside his cross necklace all along. To make the evidence public, Sang-goo holds a press conference exposing the corruption and willingly goes to prison. However, Pil-woo denies everything and Lee uses his newspaper to destroy Sang-goo's reputation with fabricated stories. Key witnesses are silenced, including actress Joo Eun-hye, who is murdered by Jo after helping Sang-goo.

Consumed by rage after learning Lee willingly betrayed him from the beginning, Sang-goo escapes custody and confronts the editor. He forces Lee to confess that Pil-woo orchestrated everything, including Eun-hye's murder and the smear campaign against Sang-goo, before cutting off Lee's right hand in revenge. Although Sang-goo records the confession, Jang-hoon realizes it is legally inadmissible because it was obtained under duress. Instead, he manipulates Lee into believing he has switched sides and gains the trust of Pil-woo's inner circle, earning a prestigious position in the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

At a gathering hosted by Pil-woo and his allies, Jang-hoon secretly records the politicians and businessmen openly discussing their crimes using a hidden camera concealed in a liquor bottle cap. After Pil-woo secures his party's presidential nomination, the recordings are anonymously released to the public alongside the original financial documents. Jang-hoon then steps forward at a press conference, revealing himself as the whistleblower and admitting his own role in infiltrating the conspiracy. His testimony, combined with the leaked footage, triggers nationwide outrage. Lee comes under investigation, while Pil-woo goes into hiding before becoming the subject of a nationwide manhunt.

Six months later, Jang-hoon has left the prosecution and opened a small law office, where he reunites with Sang-goo after his release from prison. Rather than pursuing political power himself, Jang-hoon rejects becoming another man like Pil-woo. The two men leave together, finally free from the corruption that consumed their lives.^[9]

The film was released theatrically in South Korea in November 19, 2015. Following its commercial success, an extended director's cut, titled Inside Men: The Original, was released theatrically on December 31. Running approximately 180 minutes, the extended version incorporated additional footage not included in the original theatrical release.^{[10][11][12][13][14]}

On its first four days at the South Korean box office, the film grossed ₩13.2 billion.^[15] Inside Men drew more than 2 million viewers in just six days, a record for an R-rated film; it has also set the record for the most-viewed R-rated movie in a single day—489,503 viewers.^[16]