In Believer 2, while Rak puts a risky plan into motion, Jo Won-ho continues his search for Mr. Lee. The film is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
The ending of Believer saw Jo Won-ho meeting Seo Young-rak, also known as Rak, at a cabin. Believer 2 follows the events that led to that meeting. It turns out that Rak had discovered the tracker that Captian Jo had put on Laika’s collar.
Rak had taped the collar to an ATM machine along with a receipt that had the name Kim Jae-seok on it. Jo Won-ho finds the tracker and the receipt. Convinced that Rak is Mr. Lee, he continues looking for him, even when his superior repeatedly asks him to drop the case.
It is revealed that Rak is not Mr. Lee and that he, too, wants to find Mr. Lee. To do that, he left his sample of Laika in Bo-ryeong’s hand. He now plans to steal the raw materials from Brian’s chemical factories.
Apart from that, he also steals Brian’s money after kidnapping his slush fund managers. Rak is sure that Mr. Lee’s henchwoman, Seob So-cheon, will lead him to Mr. Lee. Seob So-cheon, also known as Big Knife, is Jin Ha-rim’s step-sister
Seob So-cheon comes to South Korea, as an order of Laika needs to be delivered within 15 days, but they do not have the raw materials for it. Jin Ha-rim had given the order to Brian, but all of the Laika that he produced was confiscated by the police.
Meanwhile, Brian, who was in the hospital in police custody, is rescued by his subordinate, Eun-gwan. He is then visited by Seob So-cheon. Brian tells her that he was not able to deliver their order, but he can give her the raw materials for it; he has the material stored in Thailand.
With Brian’s help, Seob So-cheon hunts down Rak, who tells her that he can make a lot of Laika for Mr. Lee. In exchange, Rak wants to meet Mr. Lee. Won-ho, who has been using data from Park Sun-chang’s phone to find Rak, also arrives at the scene.
Jo Won-ho’s junior, Kang Duk-cheon, asks him to wait for backup, but Jo Won-ho refuses and barges in to arrest Rak, causing a gunfight. While Seob So-cheon flees with Rak, Kang Duk-cheon is killed by her men.
As a result, Jo Won-ho is suspended for 6 months. Kang Duk-cheon’s death hurts him, and he regrets being hard on his junior. However, he continues his investigation, as he is determined to find Mr. Lee.
The receipt left by Rak gives Jo Won-ho a lead. He is told that Kim Jae-seok used to work with Mr. Lee, who was a school teacher back then. He also comes to know that Mr. Lee went to Thailand to study.
12 years ago, Brian had witnessed a drug lord getting murdered in cold blood by Seob So-cheon and her stepbrother for claiming to be Mr. Lee. Despite knowing what happens to people who impersonate Mr. Lee, Brian still assumed his identity.
Brian and Yak are taken to Thailand by Seob So-cheon to get the raw materials. There, Eun-gwan saves Brian from Seob So-cheon’s men. Jo Won-ho’s investigation also brings him to Thailand. When he reaches the school where Mr. Lee was trained, he is taken to a desolate place to be killed.
However, Brian comes to his rescue in time. It is revealed that Brian is working with Rak. He knew that Seob So-cheon was planning to kill him, so he joined hands with Rak, who asked him to save Jo Won-ho because Rak needs him for his final plan.
Rak activates the tracker that Jo Won-ho placed on him, which allows Brian and Jo Won-ho to reach the place where Rak is being kept. Rak is making Laika for Mr. Lee, and Seob So-cheon wants to impress Mr. Lee with his drug.
Seob So-cheon lives for Mr. Lee’s approval. Like Jin Ha-rim, she is extremely loyal to him. However, Mr. Lee has retired to be with his family. He has allowed Seob So-cheon to keep running the business in his name, but she keeps trying to bring him back.
Mr. Lee contacts her to tell her that he is not coming back, no matter how good Rak’s work is. An upset Seob So-cheon beats Rak up and almost kills him. The place is then attacked by Brian and Jo Won-ho, which results in Seob So-cheon’s death.
Brian, Rak, and Jo Won-ho were working together because they all wanted to find Mr. Lee. Now that Seob So-cheon is out of the picture, Brian does not wish to work with them.
Believer 2 ending explained in detail:
What was Rak’s plan?
Once Brian drugs Jo Won-ho, Rak tells him about the plan that he had made to find Mr. Lee. Rak was aware that Seob So-cheon and Jin Ha-rim went after the people who falsely claimed to be Mr. Lee.
When Brian pretended to be Mr. Lee, Rak saw it as an opportunity to find the real Mr. Lee. He knew Seob So-cheon would be coming to kill Brian, so he stole Brian’s raw materials and leaked his own sample of Laika to entice her.
As he had planned, Seob So-cheon looked for him. Rak let Seob So-cheon find him and take him to Thailand. However, he did not get to meet Mr. Lee as he had hoped.
What does Brian want from Rak?
Brian wants to be Mr. Lee more than anything. He cannot assume that identity as long as the real Mr. Lee is alive. Brian does not want competition, and he intends to use Rak to kill Mr. Lee.
To get Rak to do his bidding, Brian takes Rak’s partners, the twins who produce Laika with him, hostage. He blinds one of them and mutilates the other. To save the two of them, Rak must find and kill Mr. Lee.
Does Rak kill Mr. Lee?
Rak uses Seob So-cheon’s phone to find Mr. Lee’s location. Mr. Lee is living in Norway with his family. It turns out that Rak has been looking for Mr. Lee because the man killed his parents, who worked for him and trusted him, when Rak was just a child.
Mr. Lee does not even remember killing Rak’s parents. Rak realizes that he is an arrogant man who is living an ordinary life. Rak then tells Mr. Lee that he not only killed Seob So-cheon but also Mr. Lee’s family, including his granddaughter.
The fact that his whole family is dead does not bother Mr. Lee. In fact, he wants to start a new family with Rak because he reminds Mr. Lee of his younger self. When Rak refuses his offer, Mr. Lee tries to kill him, but Rak kills him before he can shoot him.
What happens to Rak and Jo Won-ho?
When Jo Won-ho wakes up in a hospital in Thailand, his subordinate, So-yeon, tells him that he has been unconscious for three days. At night, the tracker that he put on Rak becomes active again, so Jo Won-ho goes to meet Rak.
As Rak has killed Mr. Lee, Brian lets Rak’s partners go. Rak and the twins are living in the cabin that was seen at the previous film’s end. Jo Won-ho reaches there, and it is then that the final scene of the first part plays out.
Jo Won-ho suspects that Rak killed the real Mr. Lee. Rak confirms his suspicions and tells him about the kind of man Mr. Lee was. He wonders whether his parents were worth everything he did to avenge them.
Rak tells Jo Won-ho that he has been tormented by the smell of death since his parents died. He thought that he would be able to get rid of the stench by killing Mr. Lee, but that did not happen.
Rak has done everything that he wanted to do with his life, and he knows that he cannot go back to his old life after all that he has done. He tells Jo Won-ho that he is going to be Mr. Lee, which will allow Jo Won-ho to do everything that he has wanted to do.
Rak picks up his gun and points it at Jo Won-ho, which leads to Jo Won-ho killing him the way Rak killed Mr. Lee. Jo Won-ho then comes to know that Rak did not have any bullets in his gun. He did not plan to kill Jo Won-ho but to be killed by him.
Jo Won-ho staggers out of the cabin in tears. He is then shot by one of the twins. Jo Won-ho dies without knowing that he got promoted for his work in the drug investigation.
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