Helpless (2012 film)
Helpless () is a 2012 South Korean psychological mystery/thriller written and directed by Byun Young-joo based on the bestselling novel by Japanese writer Miyabe Miyuki. A man searches for his fiancée who vanished without a trace, only to discover dark, shocking truths about her. Plot. South Korea, 2009. A few days before their wedding, veterinarian Jang Mun-ho (Lee Sun-kyun) and his fiancee Kang Seon-yeong (Kim Min-hee) pull over for coffee at a motorway rest stop on the way to visiting his parents in Andong, southeast of Seoul. However, when Mun-ho returns  to the car, Seon-yeong has disappeared and is not reachable on her mobile phone. All he can find is a hairpin in the rest stop's toilet. From the mess at her flat in Seoul, it looks as if there has been a break-in. Mystified, Mun-ho then learns from a banker friend, Dong-woo (Kim Min-jae), that Seon-yeong had earlier applied for a bank account but had been turned down when it was discovered she had a history of personal bankruptcy dating back to 2007. Investigating her debt history, Mun-ho finds she had been  using someone else's name and identity. He persuades his cousin, Kim Jong-geun (Jo Sung-ha), a former police detective sacked for taking bribes, to help find her. Examining her flat, Jong-geun finds she left no fingerprints, had no friends and claimed her mother died two years ago. It then turns out that the woman (Cha Soo-yeon) whose identity she assumed two years ago had a debt history and has since vanished. Visiting Seon-yeong's hometown, Jong-geun hears rumors she killed her mother for her insurance money. Seon-yeong's real name is, in fact , Cha Gyeong-seon, and Jong-geun and Mun-ho realize she is now looking to take on another woman's identity. They think they know her possible target. Box office. "Helpless" debuted at No. 1 on the weekend box office, only three days after its premiere on March 8, attracting 607,463 moviegoers and grossing between March 9 and 11. It topped the chart for two consecutive weeks, selling 561,666 tickets between March 16 and 18, according to KOBIS (Korean Box Office Information System). It was the twelfth most-watched Korean film of 2012, with 2,436,400 tickets sold. Awards and nominations . 2012 Baeksang Arts Awards 2012 Buil Film Awards 2012 Blue Dragon Film Awards 2012 Korean Culture and Entertainment Awards 2012 Women in Film Korea Awards