The Old Woman with the Knife

Hornclaw is an aging contract killer, a legend in her field, who started her career in the 1970s as a protégé of Ji-Won, her mentor who saved her from the streets. Hornclaw works for an organisation ostensibly offering pest control services, but that has for decades specialised in eliminating persons whom society regards as undesirable. Armed with a poisoned hairpin and her harmless appearance, Hornclaw eliminates her targets swiftly and without warning. However, when she sustains a serious injury during one mission, the organisation begins to pressure her to retire against her will.

Now an underdog, Hornclaw’s life is turned upside down in another way when she meets Bullfight, a young scoundrel who expresses a desire to cooperate with the reclusive assassin. Unbeknownst to her, they share a buried past—one that threatens to unravel their already tense relationship. When secrets come out, everyone involved needs to choose their side with care.

The Old Woman with the Knife subverts action-thriller tropes by placing a female assassin in her sixties at the centre of the story, portrayed by Lee Hye-young with a performance as sharp as a blade.

Ida Kumpulainen (translated by Herman Tikkanen)