Veronica Ngo’s “Furies” is a prequel to the 2019 Le-Van Kiet film “Furie.” It follows Bi (Dong Anh Quynh), who goes on the run after murdering one of her mother’s customers since the man has killed Bi’s mother. She grew up doing odd jobs. But one fateful night, she’s rescued by Lin (Veronica Ngo) and taken to her team of mercenaries, which features Thanh (Toc Tien) and Hong (Rima Thanh Vy), with Di Sau (Nsnd Hong Van) serving as their caretaker. Lin and her girls have sworn to take down the big four—Hai (Thuan Nguyen), Long (Song Luan), Son (Gi A Nguyen), and Teo (Phan Thanh Hien)—and they won’t stop until these men and their businesses are destroyed. However, due to Bi’s trauma, it’s unclear how far she’s willing to go.
Major Spoilers Ahead
Why Do Lin And The Girls Want To Kill Hai?
Initially, it seems that Lin is providing a home for these girls to live and thrive instead of being abused on the streets of Vietnam. When Lin starts training Bi, it feels like she’s simply training her to become a stronger human being so that she can stand up to any man that wants to take advantage of her. It’s only when Bi proves her worth and shows that she can hold her own in a one-on-one fight that Lin reveals their collective goal. Hong was violated by three men. Thanh had to join a brothel in order to pay for her sister’s medical bills. As for Lin, well, her husband and her son were killed in a territorial war by Hai. Lin didn’t die, though. She faked her death with the help of Long so that she could avenge her family at the opportune moment.
However, Lin doesn’t reveal all this to the girls. Lin says that she wants to put an end to the injustice that’s happening to the women of Vietnam once and for all. And she paints Hai and his gang as the first step towards that goal. As underscored by Bi, though, Lin only wanted revenge, and she was brainwashing the girls about this idea of feminine rage and justice. Does that mean Lin actually didn’t believe in saving the helpless girls? Well, I think Lin did start the revenge saga with the intention of killing Hai. That said, as she started to dig deeper and deeper into his “empire,” she found out about the trafficking business and turned her mission into a “revenge+rescue” operation.
Why Is Long Helping Lin And The Girls?
Long is in love with Hong. Before going any further, I want to point out that this relationship is a little problematic because Hong is only 19, and Long looks like he’s at least in his 30s. And since Lin, the girls, and Long have been on this journey for quite some time, it means that this whole relationship started when Hong was a minor. So, no matter how you cut it, Long and Hong’s love story feels weird. It’s tragic, too, because Long and Hong dream of crafting a peaceful and violence-free future for both of them. And in order to get there, they have to take Hai out of the way, thereby making that the primary reason why Long is helping Lin and the girls.
From the get-go, it’s obvious that Long and Hong aren’t meant to be together because of the lives they’ve been born into. Their relationship ends with Son killing Hong after she’s unable to kill Hai, even after cornering him in a room. Long, unfortunately, fails to do anything because he can’t blow his cover and jeopardize Lin’s mission. That’s where Long and Hoang’s (Lin’s dead husband) relationship comes into play. During the final minutes of “Furies,” Long reveals that he used to be best buddies with Hoang and his family. Ever since Hai murdered Hoang and his son and almost murdered Lin, he has been helping Lin get her revenge and avenge his friend’s death. However, none of those two things happen because Lin kills him in cold blood for not stopping Hai when he decided to murder Hoang, Lin, and Hoang’s son.
‘Furies’ Ending Explained: Have We Been Following Thanh Wolf From ‘Furie’ All This Time?
Lin personifies the two prominent messages of “Furies.” She wants every man to die because she thinks that their very existence jeopardizes the lives of women. And her villainous turn illustrates that no good can come from seeking revenge because it’s a sentiment that’s going to consume you and those around you, no matter how righteous you are. It seems that Lin has achieved everything that she wanted to achieve after killing Hai. But, at that moment, she essentially becomes possessed by the mind of a gangster because she starts talking about territories and turfs. Since she thinks that Bi doesn’t see eye-to-eye with her, especially after the revelation that Lin doesn’t believe in justice and only wants to kill people, she feels that Bi is going to come for her and her newly acquired throne. I’m not sure that’s the case, and it’s just a case of Lin’s warped perspective. Anyway, that perspective leads to Thanh’s death and a vicious fight with Bi, which ends with Lin’s death.
However, the revelation that followed soon after that was pretty mind-blowing. As Bi is found at a crime scene and has killed a bunch of people, she is sent to prison for 15 years. When she’s released, we see that she has taken on the persona of Thanh Wolf. Who is Thanh Wolf? Well, she’s the woman who was trafficking women in “Furie” and was about to sell Hai Phuong’s (Veronica Ngo’s) daughter, Mai (Mai Cat Vi), to a group of men. And, yes, Thanh Wolf was killed by Hai Phuong, thereby bringing her reign to an end. That said, this “twist” at the end of “Furies” means a few things. Firstly, Bi renamed herself after her dead friend.
Secondly, Bi continued the business of trafficking women, as predicted by Lin, instead of putting an end to it. Why? It’s unclear, but I’m guessing it’s the nature of this business. Once you’re in, no matter how good your intentions are, you’ll be corrupted. Thirdly, after killing the woman who looked like Veronica Ngo, Bi or Thanh Wolf was killed by a woman who looked like Veronica Ngo. So, it’s possible that the spirits who wear these faces are fated to come across each other in every lifetime. Does that dilute the message about killing men and empowering women? Kind of. However, since we get to see a bunch of women partake in endless amounts of action sequences, I am willing to give the flimsy themes a pass.
Is ‘Furies’ Better Than The Prequel Film?
In comparison to the prequel film, “Furies” does have more action sequences. The choreography is more complex, and Veronica Ngo even attempts an immensely complicated bike chase sequence which is reminiscent of the ones from “The Villainess” and “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.” But in terms of the stakes, “Furie” was more straightforward than “Furies” because the former was a simple rescue mission, while the latter is a revenge flick, which turns into a story about the corruptive nature of power. “Furie” singularly focused on Hai Phuong, thereby allowing you to project all your emotions on her. In “Furies,” it’s divided between Bi, Thanh, Hong, and even Lin, thereby testing your focus quite a bit. However, that’s simply the template of these films. You trade plot depth for humongous amounts of punches, kicks, machete fights, and gunplay. So, even though I don’t think that “Furies” manages to surpass the balance between the action and storytelling of “Furie,” I will applaud Veronica Ngo for delivering a high-octane action film that gives a lot of big-budget blockbusters a run for their money.
