The first body discovered in Hwasung, October 1986 was the beginning of a killing spree which rocked Korea already suffocating from political turmoil during the late 80s. This film is based on real facts of this unsolved serial murder case but refuses to remain as a mere recreation or end up as a "whodunit" story. While trailing the course of events through the police dept. that was assigned to the case, and moreover introducing mismatched partnership between a local cop, Doo-man superbly performed by Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance’s Song Kang-ho, and cop dispatched from the city, Tae-yoon starring Kim Sang-kyung of Turning Gate, the film is psychologically charged in the way it reveals the moody tones and the oppressive atmosphere of the times.
Assigned to the serial murder case in Hwasung, Tae-yoon is at awe with the shady ways in which the local police, especially his partners, Doo-man and the fist-wielding Cho Yong-koo enforces on the suspects. Tae-yoon’s practical and logic approach seems to narrow down the prime suspect as Park Hyun-kyu, yet the murders continue and Tae-yoon’s frustration and anguish reaches the boiling point.
As the word "memory" suggests from the title, the film "reminisces" rather than "defines" the case. It identifies not only with the policemen and the victims, but also the suspects and the neighborhood people as well. It is a story told by someone who has lived through and hence has compassion for the people of those times. Especially with the faded visual look and the cluttered interiors pitted against the vast rural landscape, the film successfully conveys the tone of this particular era where everyone was a victim and reason did not seem to matter.