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Coin Locker Girl

Coin Locker Girl (Korean: 차이나타운; RR: Chainataun; lit. 'Chinatown') is a 2015 South Korean crime thriller film written and directed by Han Jun-hee, starring Kim Hye-soo and Kim Go-eun. It was selected to screen in the Critics' Week section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.


Coin Locker Girl
Theatrical release poster
차이나타운
Chinatown
Chainataun
Ch'ainat'aun
Han Jun-hee
Han Jun-hee
Ahn Eun-mi Cho Dong-ki
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Kim Hye-soo
Kim Go-eun
Lee Chang-jae
Shin Min-kyung
Jang Young-gyu Kim Sun
Pollux Pictures
CGV Arthouse
April 29, 2015 (2015-04-29)
110 minutes
South Korea
Korean
US$10.7 million

Coin Locker Girl (Korean: 차이나타운; RR: Chainataun; lit. 'Chinatown') is a 2015 South Korean crime thriller film written and directed by Han Jun-hee, starring Kim Hye-soo and Kim Go-eun. It was selected to screen in the Critics' Week section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

A baby is found abandoned inside a coin locker at Western Seoul train station in 1996. A beggar takes her and names her Il-young, then when she turns 10, she is taken by the corrupt detective who sells her off to a woman referred to simply as Mother as part of his loan payment. Mother is the boss of a loan shark and organ trafficking crime ring in Incheon Chinatown; she has held on to her position of power by being dispassionate and calculating, and by keeping by her side only those of use to her. Mother decides to raise the young child after she shows toughness and smarts, eventually grooming her for a position in her organization as her personal debt collector.

One day, Il-young is given a task to collect debt from Suk-hyun, the son of a debtor. Over the course of a few days, she is initially taken aback by the guy, who doesn't seem afraid of her and even shows her kindness and openness when talking about his own struggles, before starting to develop feelings for him. But when his father flees from the debt, Mother orders her to kill Suk-hyun, an order Il-young fails to follow. Regardless, Suk-hyun is killed and organ-harvested by Mother's other goons. Il-young is beaten down and readied to be shipped for Japanese flesh trade. The only family she has ever known comes crashing down. Il-young escapes and makes her way back to Mother, and kills her, only to find out that she is actually her birth mother and that her mother uses this opportunity to teach her a lesson and train and prepare her for taking over.

YearAwardCategoryRecipientResultRef.
201568th Cannes Film FestivalCaméra d'OrHan Jun-heeNominated
19th Bucheon International Fantastic Film FestivalJury's Choice for Feature FilmCoin Locker GirlWon
45th Giffoni Film FestivalGryphon Award for Best Film (Generator 18+ section)Won
British Film Institute CertificateWon
35th Golden Cinema FestivalBest ActressKim Hye-sooWon
2nd Korean Film Producers Association AwardsWon
24th Buil Film AwardsNominated
Kim Go-eunNominated
Best Supporting ActorUhm Tae-gooNominated
Best New DirectorHan Jun-heeNominated
35th Korean Association of Film Critics AwardsBest ActressKim Hye-sooWon
Best New DirectorHan Jun-heeNominated
Top 10 Films of the YearCoin Locker GirlWon
52nd Grand Bell AwardsBest ActressKim Hye-sooNominated
Best New DirectorHan Jun-heeNominated
36th Blue Dragon Film AwardsBest ActressKim Hye-sooNominated
Best New DirectorHan Jun-heeNominated
Best Art DirectionLee Mok-wonNominated
201611th Max Movie AwardsBest ActressKim Hye-sooNominated
10th Asian Film AwardsBest ActressNominated
52nd Baeksang Arts AwardsBest ActressNominated
Best Supporting ActorUhm Tae-gooNominated
Best New ActorGo Kyung-pyoNominated
Park Bo-gumNominated
Best New DirectorHan Jun-heeWon
21st Chunsa Film Art AwardsBest ActressKim Hye-sooWon
  • Official website (in Korean)
  • Coin Locker Girl at the Korean Movie Database (in Korean)
  • Coin Locker Girl at IMDb
  • Coin Locker Girl at HanCinema
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