Twenty Hacker ~ HEX is My Name, Hacking is My Game

“Twenty Hacker” is a 2021 Korean drama movie, categorized as a Action, Thriller, and Romance. A film that touches on the war in the tech world between white hat hackers and back hat hackers. An alternate title is “Romantic Hacker”.

♦ There are White Hackers, Black Hackers, and a Genius Hacker called HEXI

In “Twenty Hacker”, Park Jae-min, a high school student, pleads with police investigators to find the people who scammed his father. The investigator is loaded with numerous excuses as to why the criminals have not been brought to justice. In anger and frustration, Park Jae-min decides to do his own investigation. He learned everything you need to know about white hat hacking and became a genius hacker using the code name HEX.

Park Jae-min had a close friend who was always there for him through thick and thin. After being scammed, his father died, and Park Joo-hee comforted him and helped him get through this sorrowful period in his life. As their friendship, Park Jae-min kept his deep feelings for her a secret. Meanwhile, she experienced numerous “crushes”. She was constantly picking out the perfect man in her life. Her 28^th crush was Lee Chan-ho. Park Jae-min tried to discourage the relationship. But Lee Chan-ho told him that he likes her too. (What’s a Kdrama without a love triangle? LOL.)

As HEX, Park Jae-min uses white hat hacking techniques to uncover many people engaged in criminal activities and expose them. However, he still has not found the person or people who robbed his father.

There is no doubt Park Jae-min is gifted in many ways. Not only is he good with computers but he is an excellent athlete. Many of the students admire him and there one student in particular, Lee Chan-ho, who first eyes him from a distance and later develops a friendly relationship with him.

Some people in this world are gifted. It seems they have it all. Good looks, good health, good athletic prowess, and they’re highly intelligent. But even though they have these gifts, they are not haughty or proud. They don’t think highly of themselves or expect others to bow down to them. They are humble, kind, and live an honest life. Park Jae-min is one of those people.

It’s not unusual for those gifted people to have admirers. Sadly, it’s also not unusual for them to have enemies. It’s nothing they have done to provoke hatred, jealousy, and envy. Sometimes the enemy will make themselves known. But they often choose to remain in the shadows, unseen. They hide so that they cause as much damage as possible without getting exposed. They try to keep themselves hidden while doing everything they can to crush a person who has done nothing wrong to them. The unseen enemy does not limit their attacks on the gifted person, they will hurt and injure those who are close to them. The goal is to cause them extreme pain.

Park Jae-min’s white hat hacking skills eventually lead him to the criminal who scammed his father. Only then does he realize his father was targeted because the unseen enemy was aiming at him. Now that he knows the enemy, how does he make the enemy pay for his crime?

Main Characters:

• Park Jae-min / HEX (played by Kwon Hyun-bin, a former member of JBJ Kpop group)
• Park Joo-hee (played by Lim Na-young, “Unpredictable Family”)
• Lee Chan-ho (played by Lee Soo-woong, a member of Kpop group Boys Republic)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: 4.4 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 7.7 out of 10 stars
• Amazon customers rated this film 4.1 out of 5 stars
• Viki viewers rated this film 8.4 out of 10 stars

My personal rating is 7 out of 10 stars.

I enjoyed watching the 1995 American film “Hackers” and was drawn to this Korean drama because I thought it might be similar. There are some similarities. It’s about hacking and the cast is young people who have not yet decided their path in life. Some categorized this film as Comedy but I did not laugh once. (O.o)

The acting and storyline were not very impressive. But “Twenty Hacker” does address relevant topics in today’s world such as scammers, who steal crypto and traditional currency. They prey on the vulnerable like senior citizens but they will steal from anyone who can duped by them. They don’t discriminate. Also, not all hackers are bad. Hence the terms white hat hackers and black hat hackers. Technology is not evil. It’s how people use technology that is bad or good.

“Hacker Twenty” also addressed something that many people have to deal with through no fault of their own and technology has nothing to do with it. Unprovoked hatred, jealousy and envy of others just because you’re you.

• If this type of K-drama interests you, you might also like: “Healer”, “Mad Dog”, “Police University”.

LINKS OF INTEREST:

Film Review: Twenty Hacker (2021) by Han Hyun-seok | Asian Movie Pulse

K-pop Stars Feature in Newly Released Crypto-themed Movie ‘Twenty Hacker’ | Crypto News

Twenty Hacker – reviews and where to watch | Good.Film

TRAILERS/TEASERS:

Montage. “Twenty Hacker | Official Trailer.” YouTube Video. YouTube, April 11, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keJon5Fq5b4.‌