Aahana Swrup
Netflix’s ‘Kill Boksoon’ is a South Korean action thriller directed by Byun Sung-hyun, starring Jeon Do-yeon as the titular character. The movie revolves around a deadly assassin-for-hire, Gil Bok-soon, who is also a single mother to a distant teenage daughter, Jae-yeong. When Bok-soon reaches the end of her contract as a killer, complications arise, leading to a fatal encounter with her own company. At the same time, Jae-yeong’s life also downspirals as a by-product of her own hidden secrets. For a gritty assassin flick, ‘Kill Boksoon’ features an incredibly insightful mother-daughter relationship and encapsulates an authentic depiction of a working single mother. If you’re wondering where Bok-soon’s juxtaposed dual-life leads her, here is everything you need to know about the ending of ‘Kill Boksoon.’ SPOILERS AHEAD!
Kill Boksoon Plot Synopsis
Gil Bok-soon lives a double life as a renowned assassin, the best in the game, and a single mother to her teen daughter Jae-yeong. One of the two roles proves to be significantly more difficult for her— and it’s not the one with guns involved. MK Ent, the biggest assassin company in partnership with others, sanctions Bok-soon’s missions. The head of the company, Cha Min-kyu, is an old friend of Bok-soon’s with a soft spot for her. While on the other hand, his sister, Min-hee, has a metaphorical target set on Bok-soon’s back.
In an assignment, Bok-soon gets paired up with an MK intern, Yeong-ji, who seems to idolize her. Their mission is to kill a young man and make it look like a suicide. At first, Bok-soon ignores the mission’s specifics but soon realizes the devil that resides in the details. She discovers that the assassination is taken out by the boy’s father, Oh Jeong-sik. Jeong-sik, a senator running for Prime Minister, is facing controversy after claims of his son’s fraudulent college admission. The suicide note Bok-soon has to plant in the boy’s room will help clear the Senator’s name from the entire debacle. Unable to complete the mission, Bok-soon lies about her failure, blaming faulty equipment.
However, Min-kyu knows her well enough to recognize the lie. Bok-soon knows the consequences of her actions would be dire as she has broken one of the three pillar rules of the assassin companies. She uses her contract as a pawn and agrees to sign a renewal with MK in exchange for a complete pardon. She also demands that no one else be assigned the case again. Min-kyu agrees but counters that he would be the one who decides the duration of her new contract.
Meanwhile, Bok-soon’s family life is further aggravated after her daughter gets suspended from school and faces permanent expulsion. Jae-yeong stabbed her classmate, Cheol-woo, at school with a pair of scissors. When asked why she has done so, Jae-yeong refuses to answer and distances herself even more. Eventually, she discloses the secret affair she’s been having with her best friend, So-Ra. Cheol-woo blackmailed Jae-yeong with pictures of her and So-Ra kissing. He had threatened to out her if she didn’t date him for a while. As a result, Jae-yeong stabbed Cheol-woo in her anger. After revealing this to her mother, Bok-soon and Jae-yeong manage to work through their issues. Though Bok-soon isn’t initially thrilled at her daughter’s sexuality, she quickly comes around, and the two find common ground to bond over.
At the same time, Min-hee finds out about Bok-soon’s botched operation and bubbles with resentment at the special treatment Bok-soon receives from her own brother. In retaliation, Min-Hee takes out a hit on Bok-soon and recruits several assassins who are Bok-soon’s drinking buddies. This group of assassins includes Han Hee-seong, Bok-soon’s current lover. Backed in a corner, Bok-soon has to now face off against the Cha siblings and keep her double life a secret from her daughter.
Kill Boksoon Ending: Does Bok-soon Renew Her Contract?
Bok-soon has been in the assassin scene for a long time. She first met professional assassin Min-kyu at seventeen when she killed her abusive father. After this, her life goes down the path of crime, and she successfully establishes herself as one of the best assassins for hire. Therefore, she ranks as an A-level assassin at MK Ent— the best killer at the deadliest company full of killers. She’s assigned high-paying, high-priority jobs and is the object of envy from others. All in all, Bok-soon is an incredible asset to MK Ent, and Min-Kyu wants to continue Bok-soon’s affiliation with them.
However, Bok-soon is reluctant to sign back in with MK. She isn’t entirely ready to retire yet but thinks it’s the best decision for her family. Still, she can’t disclose her reasons to Min-Kyu as she had promised him that she wouldn’t let her kid interfere with the job. Therefore, Bok-soon continues to avoid renewing her contract with MK without reason. Nevertheless, after her botched assassination attempt on the Senator’s son, Min-kyu finally succeeds in convincing Bok-soon to sign the contract again. He hands the responsibility of the contract to his sister, Min-hee.
Min-hee already has a bone to pick with Bok-soon and even sends out killers after Bok-soon. Min-hee is jealous of the relationship between her brother and Bok-soon and wants to establish dominance over Bok-soon. Hence, when Bok-soon comes into her office to renew her contract, Min-hee tells her about the murder of Yeong-ji as a sick power move. As a result, Bok-soon refuses to sign the contract and sends Min-Kyu a message for a battle to the death.
Do Cha Min-hee and Hee-Seong Die?
When Min-hee and Bok-soon meet for Bok-soon’s contract renewal at Min-hee’s office, the tension between them is taut. There already exists a rivalry between them, and Min-hee believes she has the upper hand in their dynamic. Thus, she discloses the details of Yeong-Ji’s death to Bok-soon and tells her how Min-Kyu had killed the young intern. Bok-soon has developed a close connection to Yeong-Ji. The newbie assassin already used to idolize her, but Bok-soon really starts to care for Yeong-Ji after she repeatedly backs Bok-soon up. Bok-soon sees potential in Yeong-Ji. Additionally, being a mother, she might also have developed some protective feelings towards Yeong-Ji. Therefore, when the news of her cold-blooded murder is so callously delivered by a woman she already dislikes, Bok-soon kills Min-hee.
Another character whose death comes at the hands of Bok-soon is Hee-seong. Though Hee-seong and Bok-soon are lovers, their relationship is very pointedly casual. It is clear that Bok-soon cares about Hee-seong by how she tries to help him numerous times. However, Hee-seong’s career as an assassin is extremely dwindling. He’s a low-level assassin despite his impressive skill set. As a result, he starts participating in unsanctioned murders. When Min-hee finds out about this, instead of handing out severe punishment, she offers Hee-seong a job. She assigns him Bok-soon’s failed assignment concerning the Senator’s son. Afterward, when he meets Bok-soon at the noodle shop along with their other drinking buddies, Min-hee assigns him the job of killing Bok-soon. The rest of the assassins also receive a similar offer, and a big fight breaks out. Hee-Seong is the last to die, and before Bok-soon kills him, he asks her to look after his sick father.
Does Jae-yeong Watch the Video?
By the end of the movie, Jae-yeong thinks her mother works as some top-secret government agent. She found a gun and a fake passport in her mother’s bag and made an assumption. When Jae-yeong shares this assumption with Bok-soon, Bok-soon doesn’t outright refute it and lets her daughter believe the lie. The relationship between the two has just started to get better, with Jae-yeong taking down her walls around Bok-soon. Therefore, Bok-soon is hesitant to do anything that might put their relationship in jeopardy again. Moreover, she does not want her daughter to know her dark secrets and see her as the killer that she is.
Shortly after the reconciliation between Bok-soon and Jae-yeong, Bok-soon goes to confront Min-Kyu in a fight to the death. The two meet in his office at night. As Bok-soon goes through every scenario in her head about how this fight would turn out, she tries to find Min-kyu’s weakness. In the end, she realizes Min-kyu’s sole weakness is, in fact, Bok-soon herself. She slits Min-kyu’s chest with his own blade and watches him bleed out to his death. However, as he’s dying, Min-kyu reveals that Jae-yeong has watched her kill him. There are cameras set up in his office, and one of his men had delivered a connected device to her house. Min-kyu knew he would die and wanted to hurt Bok-soon by tarnishing her daughter’s perception of her.
Bok-soon rushes home, assuring herself that Min-kyu had lied on her way back. When she reaches home, she finds Jae-yeong asleep. Even when the two interact, Jae-yeong does not indicate that she has seen her mother kill a man. However, in the end-credit scene, we see Jae-yeong visit her old school. She has decided against revealing the truth to the principal and instead has left the school. She comes back to say goodbye to So-Ra and tells her that she had originally planned to kiss her in front of everyone. Her other plan had been to kill her. She goes on to menacingly threaten Cheol-woo as well. Jae-yeong has a new vibe around her. She is no longer heartbroken over lost love and is leaning into her reputation as a troublemaker. This change could be brought about by her witnessing her mother killing Min-kyu and choosing to lie about it for Bok-soon’s sake. Instead of being repulsed or alarmed by it, Jae-yeong sees it as inspiration and gives in to her violent streak just like her mother does.
Read More: Where Was Netflix’s Kill Boksoon Filmed?
