Believer 2 Ending Explained: Why Was Rak After Mr Lee? Who Survived in the Final Showdown?

Wondering what happened during the South Korean crime action film’s final showdown? Read our Believer 2 Ending Explained article to find out who survived the messy crossfire, and what all happened to the main characters of the 2023 Baek Jong-yul (aka BAIK) directorial!

As the “midquel” to the 2018 film, Believer, the 2023 Korean movie also situates its action and events in the same timeframe as the previous movie directed by Lee Hae-young, which received a theatrical premiere instead of being promoted as an OTT release. Unlike the former addition, the new movie was distributed by Netflix. Written by Kim Hee-jin, it was released on November 17.

Watch the Believer 2 Trailer

Believer 2 Characters: Marked as an action overdose, the violent flick stars Cho Jin-woong as Jo Won-ho, a detective hung up on discovering the elusive “Mr Lee” and Cha Seung-won as Brian Lee, an industrial company’s director who secretly runs an illegal drug testing lab and wishes to take over as the only grand presence worthy enough to claim the “Mr Lee” identity.

Addtionally, Han Hyo-joo joins in the mess as the newcomer “Big Knife”, Mr Lee’s right hand and the only person privy to his identity, with Oh Seung-hoon replacing Ryu Jun-yeol from the first movie as Seo Young-rak aka “Rak”. Kim Dong-young and Lee Joo-young also return to play their roles as the deaf and mute drug-cooking siblings, who’ve formed an out-of-the-ordinary family with Rak.

Believer 2 Plot: Detective Jo continues chasing after Mr Lee, who’s still operating his drug empire incognito. Despite having caught Brian Lee in the previous movie, Jo sees through his act and realises that he’s not the Mr Lee he’s been after all this while, rather just another impostor laying claim on the underworld behemoth’s identity. With Rak also having gone missing, he tails every clue and connection he can put together to pursue his suspicious disappearance too, in hope of putting this unfinished business behind with him for good.

Believer 2 Netflix Ending Explained Contains Spoilers

Believer 2 Ending Explained

Who Survived in the End?

Much to the dismay of the film series’ fans, nearly all main characters bite the dust in the end. Jin-woong’s Detective Jo, Seung-hoon’s Rak, and even the elusive Mr Lee end up dead eventually. On top of that, newcomer Han Hyo-joo’s character, Big Knife was also killed by Rak and Detective Jo in an unprecedented simultaneous double-kill with Jo shooting her from behind to save Rak’s life, and Rak stabbing her in the neck with a piece of glass in his self-defence. So, to answer the original question, Cha Seung-won’s Brian Lee is still lurking out there, but his presence and character were clearly not at the focus of the camera in the end.

Who Was Mr Lee?

As divulged by Rak to Detective Jo in the final scene, Mr Lee, played by (Tzi Ma) was like any other regular man. He was loved by his neighbours, and even had a family consisting of his daughter, her husband and their child. Moreover, Han Hyo-joo also looked up to him as her father figure, but that end isn’t fully looked into in the movie.

All we know is that Mr Lee disliked her calling him “Pa”. Ultimately, Rak tracked him down in Norway and sat down for a conversation, informing him that he’d already killed his entire family. Listening to which, Lee seemed to extend an olive branch to him by offering him to be a part of his “new family”, but Rak firmly responds by shooting him in the head.

What Happened to the Twins?

On hearing the satisfactory accomplishment of the mission, i.e. Mr Lee’s murder (so that he could take over the underworld scene as “the only Mr Lee”), Brian releases the twins, who then go back to living with Rak in a secluded cabin. Lee Joo-young’s Rona is blinded by Brian’s misconduct, enacted to push Rak into following his orders. On the other hand, Manko’s (Kim Dong-young) leg is also injured following the same tactics.

Why Was Rak After Mr Lee?

Well, other than Brian pushing him to do the deed, Rak also had his own motive to go after Mr Lee. Fuelled by vengeful fire, Rak was keen on murdering the old kingpin because of how he treated his parents. Back in the day, when Rak was just a young boy, his parents had paid the mob boss to smuggle them into Korea, but he poisoned their water bottles, resulting in Rak being orphaned.

What Happened to Rak and Detective Jo?

Believer 2 finale takes us to the snow-capped cabin as Detective Jo comes out to see Rak and confronts him about his visit to Mr Lee. Rak confesses that he murdered the drug kingpin and avenged his parents’ deaths. After all that rush, despite finding the end of his problems, Rak can’t seem to find a purpose to his life anymore and the “smell” and memory of his parents’ demise continue to consume him. At one point, he even mentions that he’ll take over Mr Lee’s role, which pushes Detective Jo to pull out his gun.

With both of them ready with their guns on either sides, Jo beats him to it and shoots Rak in the head first, drawing a parallel to how Rak killed Mr Lee. Unfortunately, when Mr Lee bends down to check Rak’s gun, he realises that he never loaded his weapon with bullets. He walks out with the guilt weighing heavy on his chest, but is eventually also put down by the twin, Manko, played by Kim Dong-young.

Believer 2 Korean movie is streaming on Netflix.

Have you watched the film yet? What did you think of the sequel and its finale? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Also read: Believer 2 Review: Imperfect and Unaffecting Follow-Up Could Pass Off as a Casual Watch for Kicks