A common question among viewers is: The Answer: Inspired by True Events
The gangster character played by Don Lee (Ma Dong-seok) was specifically written to showcase his unique "tough guy" screen persona and is not a direct portrayal of a specific historical figure. The Retribution:
Some reviews and viewers note that the concept of criminals and police working together to catch a more dangerous threat is a "true tale", though most critics view the specific alliance in the film as an "inventive reworking" of tropes rather than a literal historical record. Useful Review Summary
The core of the movie—a criminal teaming up with a cop—is the most dramatic, yet loosely inspired, aspect. The story explores the idea that in the face of absolute evil (the "Devil"), the "Gangster" and the "Cop" share a common interest in elimination. is the gangster the cop the devil based on true story
Here is the detailed breakdown of the true story that inspired the film, and where Hollywood-style fiction takes over.
This is the real-life origin of the film’s premise.
The three main characters—the gangster (Jang Dong-su), the cop (Jung Tae-seok), and the devil (Kang Kyun-ho)—are fictional creations. There is no record of a specific Korean gangster teaming up with a police detective to catch a serial killer in the way depicted in the film. A common question among viewers is: The Answer:
The film’s screenwriter reportedly read about a real incident where a criminal survived an attack by a serial killer and helped police—but that story was .
The "true story" aspect relies more on the that a serial killer creates in a densely populated city, rather than a factual account of one man's arrest. Why The Gangster and The Cop Team Up
: The film heavily emphasizes the randomness of the crimes to build tension. Yoo Young-chul similarly baffled real investigators because his early crimes lacked a traditional, easily identifiable signature, leading police to believe multiple killers were at work. 2. The Real "Gangster": Did a Mob Boss Fight Back? The story explores the idea that in the
The primary real-life inspiration for the serial killer in the movie is Yoo Young-chul, one of South Korea's most notorious serial killers. His murder spree occurred between September 2003 and July 2004. Initially, Yoo Young-chul was convicted of 20 murders, though he confessed to having killed up to 26 people. His victims were primarily elderly people, masseuses, and sex workers from affluent areas of Seoul.
However, one detail the film borrows accurately is the . In the movie, the gangster (Don Lee) deliberately rams his car into the killer's vehicle to disable him. In reality, Yoo Young-chul was caught because he rammed his car into a police surveillance vehicle by accident, leading to his arrest. The filmmakers inverted this—giving the gangster the agency to crash the car.