Heart Blackened

Heart Blackened (침묵, "Chimmuk," literally "Silence") is a 2017 South Korean crime thriller directed by Jung Ji-woo, a remake of the 2013 Chinese film Silent Witness. Im Tae-san (Choi Min-sik) is a powerful, self-made financier whose life is upended when his fiancée, the popular singer Yoo-na (Lee Hanee), is found murdered. The case turns swiftly against his own daughter, Im Mi-ra (Lee Soo-kyung), who becomes the prime suspect despite having no memory of the seven hours before the killing.

Refusing to believe Mi-ra is guilty, Tae-san hires Choi Hee-jung (Park Shin-hye), a young lawyer who takes the case because she genuinely believes in the daughter's innocence rather than for the money her client can offer. As Hee-jung digs into the missing hours, the investigation is complicated by Kim Dong-myung (Ryu Jun-yeol), an obsessive fan of Yoo-na who surfaces with CCTV footage from the night of the murder that no one else has seen.

The film is built around a father's willingness to go to any length to protect his child, and around how much of what looks like devotion is really guilt, control, or self-interest. Detective Dong Seong-sik (Park Hae-joon) and prosecutor Jeong Seung-gil (Jo Han-chul) work the case from the outside, each pulling at threads that put Tae-san's own account of events in doubt.

Heart Blackened opened in South Korean theaters on November 2, 2017, with a 125-minute runtime. At the 54th Baeksang Arts Awards, Lee Soo-kyung won Best Supporting Actress (Film) for her performance as Mi-ra, with co-star Lee Hanee also nominated in the same category.