Based on the novel, “The Killer’s Shopping Mall” by Kang Ji-Young, A Shop For Killers is an eight-episode Korean action series streaming on Hulu in the U.S. and on Disney+ in select regions. The series follows Jeong Ji-an (Kim Hye-jun), a college student whose life is in danger after inheriting her uncle’s strange shop due to his abrupt death.
Unfortunately, Ji-an’s no stranger to death, as her grandmother and parents also died mysteriously when she was a child. Enduring significant trauma from the loss of nearly all her family, Ji-an no longer speaks and finds herself in the care of her silent and stoic uncle, Jeong Jin-man (Lee Dong-wook). His method of care is minimal: offering a roof over Ji-an’s head, providing food, and giving her allowance to buy school supplies. He embodies “tough love” through and through, to the point of seeming heartless at times. Ji-an ends up making a breakthrough in regaining her ability to speak, but only because she is pushed to the absolute limit, left with no choice but to desperately cry for help to escape a terrible situation. This may be one of the moments in her childhood that helped Ji-an build her tough shell.
The show makes no waste of time, jumping straight into the action in the first episode’s opening scene of Ji-an trying to make sense of and defend herself from unknown assailants. Many would be frozen in fear in that situation, yet Ji-an recalls memories of lessons she received from her uncle on how to protect herself. Although she lived with Jin-man for about 10 years, it’s curious that Ji-an doesn’t seem to know much about her uncle. However with a target on her back following her uncle’s death, she’s about to learn a lot more about him and the shop he left her with.
The first two episodes go by quickly, as the show immediately takes you into the action and dives into Ji-an’s traumatic past and unusual upbringing. There are some very convenient developments that push the story along, and one instance reveals what should be an ironclad secret in a surprisingly simple manner. That aside, Kim’s performance as the resilient and nimble Ji-an makes her a compelling lead, as she unravels the mystery of her uncle and his business, and whether that will answer questions about her family’s deaths.
