Tabloid Truth


Tabloid Truth is a 2014 South Korean thriller film directed by Kim Kwang-sik, and starring Kim Kang-woo, Jung Jin-young, Ko Chang-seok and Park Sung-woong.
In a story about a talent manager seeking the truth behind an actress's apparent suicide, who discovers the enigmatic individuals responsible for sourcing, trading, and distributing malicious rumors, factual or imagined, the film addresses the sensationalistic and poisonous tabloid culture of South Korea, where rumor-mongering drives lucrative web traffic while also wreaking unaccountable havoc on its victims' lives.

Plot

A scandalous rumor about Mi-jin, an up-and-coming actress, is included as a gossip item in a stock market tipsheet and propagated by the tabloids, causing her to kill herself in an apparent suicide. Woo-gon, Mi-jin's devoted longtime manager who dedicated everything to building her career, initiates a vengeful investigation to expose the sources of the rumor. With unexpected assistance from tabloid distributor Mr. Park and legendary wiretapper Baek Moon, Woo unravels the opaque and lucrative world of secret tips and salacious rumors.
The film portrays a particularly insidious and unexpected forum for tabloid gossip-mongering: jjirasi, or the stock market tipsheet. In weekly secret meetings consisting of corporate personnel, politicians, reporters, public officials, and others, insiders exchange information about the latest goings-on. The collected intelligence is published into a tip sheet and distributed through paid subscriber channels before getting picked up by the tabloids as juicy blind items. What makes this combination particularly toxic is the sheen of respectability and truth given by the financial market players involved, despite the only occasional accuracy of its content.

Cast

Main characters

Supporting characters

Release

Tabloid Truth was released in South Korea on February 20, 2014. It sold 442,234 tickets on its opening weekend, and 1.22 million by its second week. Though it received a positive reaction from critics, the film failed to ignite the larger interest of the public, box office-wise, despite a topical subject surrounding corruption in the media, entertainment industry, big business and politics.
The film also received a limited North American release. It opened in CGV Cinemas in Los Angeles on March 7, 2014, before expanding its run to New York City, Vancouver and Hawaii on March 14.