The 2024 Korean action comedy, Handsome Guys, reminded me of the 2017 Japanese film One Cut of the Dead—if you haven’t watched it, you should definitely check it out. Anyway, Nam Dong-hyup’s Handsome Guys is a hilarious satire, because the two main characters, Jae-pil and Sang-gu, are supposedly the ugliest guys around, but deep down, they’re just big softies. The story kicks off in this old village where, ages ago, there was a girl who got possessed by a demon goat named Baphomet. Things got pretty dark from there—she started hurting everyone in the village. Eventually, the townspeople captured her, and just when the village priest tried to get rid of her, she ended up killing the cousin of this famous golfer named Sung-bin. The demon goat got taken out by a silver bullet from a gun, but legend has it that 66 years and 6 months later, the devil goat will come back from hell after another goat will have to be sacrificed. Fast forward to the present day, and Jae-pil and Sang-gu, completely clueless about this whole backstory, move into a new house in the village. Turns out, it’s actually that same place where the demon girl got sacrificed, and it’s the gateway to hell, ready to welcome that demon goat back. At the same time, Sung-bin and his friends, also oblivious to this history, head to the village for a chill weekend trip. Little do they know what’s coming for them! The question is—will they be able to survive the devil’s return or not?
Why did the brothers save Mina?
As Handsome Guys movie starts, we see Golfer Lee Sung-bin and his friends are on their way to his grandfather’s house for a relaxing weekend. Sung-bin was pretty popular in their circle, and his friends really liked him. Even though he knew all about the story of Baphomet and how his cousin was killed by this demon-possessed girl, he wasn’t scared. He thought it was just a rumor. Plus, he had this piece of cloth that was supposed to be blessed or something, so he believed it would protect him and his friends. While they were driving, they didn’t notice a goat crossing the road until it was too late. Their car hit the goat, and it died. Instead of freaking out, they did what people do these days—took pictures with the dead goat and posted it on social media. What they didn’t realize was that this wasn’t just any goat. They had accidentally sacrificed it, which, on that exact day—66 years and 6 months after Baphomet was banished—basically summoned the demon back to life. They just left the goat there on the road and kept going.
Meanwhile, Jae-pil and Sang-gu, the two brothers who were known for being kindhearted despite their rough looks, were also heading to the village. When they saw the dead goat on the street, they felt bad for it and decided to give it a proper burial. But their appearance made them look suspicious, so when the police saw them carrying the goat, they were a bit suspicious, but they let them go for their clean records. Actually, the brothers had just bought an old, run-down mansion in the village. The place had this creepy vibe, with broken bricks and shattered windows. But the worst part? They didn’t know that this house was the actual gateway to hell. When they got to the basement and saw a pentagram carved into the floor and a silver bullet-loaded gun, they were a little freaked out. But they brushed it off and went ahead and buried the goat—Baphomet, unknowingly bringing the devil back.
Later that night, as Jae-pil and Sang-gu were fishing by a pond near their house, they saw a girl fall into a ditch. It was Mina, one of Sung-bin’s friends. Jae-pil and Sang-gu immediately jumped into the water and rescued Mina, then brought her back to their house. They just wanted to make sure she was safe, without knowing they were caught up in something way bigger than they could have imagined.
What happened to Baphomet?
Mina was wearing Sung-bin’s jacket, which still had his phone inside. When the two brothers, Jae-pil and Sang-gu, found it, they thought it would be funny to mess around. So, they started posting silly pictures on Sung-bin’s social media—pictures of him drinking and dancing with girls. They just wanted to have a little fun. But when Sung-bin saw the posts, he was furious. Instead of worrying about Mina, who was still with the brothers, he just wanted his phone back. However, things quickly spiraled out of control. One by one, horrible accidents started happening, and Sung-bin’s friends began dying. It wasn’t just bad luck—Baphomet, the demon that had risen from the dead, was playing tricks on them and taking them out one after the other. The brothers and Mina, watching all of this unfold, were confused and scared. They had no idea why these terrible things kept happening. They started to believe their house was cursed. But in reality, it was Baphomet, targeting the five people in Sung-bin’s car who had sacrificed the goat. The only person who wasn’t being attacked was Mina, because she never made fun of the dead goat, and didn’t want to hurt it in the first place. As the legend went, there would be three people chosen by God to defeat Baphomet.
It turned out that Jae-pil, Sang-gu, and Mina were those three chosen ones, and they were the only ones who could take down the demon. There was an old man named John who had been there 66 years ago when Baphomet was first banished. He knew that those three could kill the demon with a silver bullet. As the night went on, the police, who had been following the brothers’ trail, arrived at the house. But even the police couldn’t escape the demon—one got electrocuted, and another was killed. Time was running out, and the pressure was on Jae-pil, Sang-gu, and Mina to take action. Sung-bin, now possessed by Baphomet, was becoming more and more dangerous. It seemed like they were all doomed. But with Mina’s courage and the help of the two brothers, they managed to confront Sung-bin. In a tense moment, they fired the silver bullet, killed him, and freed him from the demon’s grasp. The sky turned red, thunder rumbled, and it felt like a giant hand reached down from the heavens and snatched Baphomet’s soul away once and for all. The three chosen ones had unknowingly fulfilled their mission, finally putting an end to the demon’s reign.
During Handsome Guys’ ending, we see that Sung-bin and his friends, except for Mina, are all dead. At first, the police suspected the two brothers, Jae-pil and Sang-gu, because of their rough appearance. But later, it was proven that they weren’t responsible. The police officer who got electrocuted but later saved actually saw Baphomet with his own eyes, who caused all the deaths. Even though the story sounded pretty unbelievable, the officer’s words were taken seriously, and the “handsome guys” were cleared of any blame. In the end, the brothers were saved from being wrongly accused. We can only hope that Baphomet won’t return again, but who knows? Evil has a way of surprising us when we least expect it.
