FANTASIA FEST 2022: ‘Special Delivery’ Excels in Automotive Action

I’m a sucker for illegal courier service in films. They’re set up for quick thinking, faster driving, and chases that get your adrenaline going. On those fronts, Special Delivery, well, delivers. Directed and written by Park Dae-min, Special Delivery cleverly pulls together the very best parts of car-based action films with a lead character that busts open the genre. 

If you’re in South Korea and need to get a package from one place to another, human or otherwise, you turn to Jang Eun-ha (Park So-dam) and her sketchy boss Baek (Kim Eui-sung). As a sideline to Baek’s junkyard business, he brokers special deliveries—anything, anywhere, any which way. Getting there is the task of Jang, an ace driver. When a former baseball player lands himself in hot water with gangsters, she’s left with his son Seo-won (Jung Hyun-jun) in her car. The catch? The kid also has the key to a corrupt cop’s illicit funds in his pocket and a swarm of murderous henchmen tracking him down.

As Jang, Park So-dam becomes the kind of person with the skill and tenacity to see a moving train blocking the way and immediately attempt a route to get around it, even over the tracks. She knows how her car moves, how it hugs the street, and how to obstruct those around her. Stoic by habit, her bright hair and even brighter apartment offer a peek into a woman who isn’t as cold-blooded as she likes to show. As the film continues and she spends more time with her young passenger, she begins to soften towards him, caring about his happiness and safety more than the job.

Jang is a role often reserved for men. Not only because of the driving but because action loves to pair up cold leads with kids to watch them open up – while wreaking a lot of havoc along the way. As Jang, Park So-dam is perfection. She’s smart, efficient, and damn good at what she does. Acting against a cast of all men, Jang never shrinks in their presence, letting her driving do most of the talking and holding her own while going hand to hand if she has to. Their growing connection has heart and helps give this action film an emotional core to rotate around.

Additionally, while Park is able to carry the film, Special Delivery’s extended cast is filled with memorable characters with personalities that stand out. For his part, Seo-won never feels pushed to be an adult. Instead, he interacts with the world with childlike fear and curiosity that rewards viewers in the film’s third act with an emotional payoff. Additionally, Baek is the reluctant but kind elder, Asif is the best joyful friend and memorable presence (Han Hyun-min), and Jo Kyung-Pil (Song Sae-Byeok) is the absolutely despicable villain. All of them bring together a film that fires on all cylinders and is nearly flawless.

But while the characters stand out, the scenes they inhabit are each planned with a specificity that ensures every shot of a car chase, every moment in a fight, and every actor in the frame has an impact on screen. Excellent in every way, the car chases are backed by 80s synth, and the action moments thought out to fit size differences in fighters help make everything come alive.

From start to finish, Special Delivery is adrenaline-pumping action fun with a bright core that makes it stand out against other “shady adult finds a kid that exposes their heart of gold” offerings. Park So-dam is a star. While we all know she the dramatic skill from her past films, she absolutely fills this action role in a dynamic way that leaves us wanting to see her in more.

Special Delivery was screened at Fantasia International Film Festival 2022.

Kate Sánchez

Kate Sánchez is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of But Why Tho? A Geek Community. There, she coordinates film, television, anime, and manga coverage. Kate is also a freelance journalist writing features on video games, anime, and film. Her focus as a critic is championing animation and international films and television series for inclusion in awards cycles.