Christmas Carol ~ Who Killed My Twin Brother?

AdminMarch 3, 2025

“Christmas Carol” is a 2022 Korean movie, categorized as Thriller, Crime, Mystery, and Revenge; based on the novel of the same name by Joo Won-Kyu; and is streaming on Tubi TV.

SUMMARY: A young man is talking to his twin brother on the phone and can hear him being attacked. The police found his brother’s dead body on Christmas day and they closed the case as an accident. But he tracked down the killer to get revenge.

My Twin Brother’s Death Was Not an Accident

In “Christmas Carol”, Joo Wol-Woo and Joo Il-Woo are twin brothers. Joo Wol-Woo is mentally challenged. Or to use the politically incorrect word: he’s a retard. He’s pure and innocent, and he loves his brother. By contrast, Joo Il-Woo is “normal” and takes care of his brother, although he finds the responsibility burdensome and is often angry about it. Until … he sees his brother’s dead body.

Joo Wol-Woo loved the Christmas holiday and was looking forward to being with his brother. It was Christmas Eve. He tried to reach Joo Il-Woo many times, but his beloved brother was “busy” and didn’t answer his phone. By the time he did answer, he could hear Joo Wol-Woo being attacked. Joo Il-Woo was too far away to help. It wasn’t a video phone call so he couldn’t see. All he could do was listen and try to remember their voices. On Christmas day, his brother’s dead body was found. Their grandmother told the police his death was an accident. Joo Il-Woo told the police he knew it was murder. They told him the case was closed.

Joo Il-Woo decided to get justice for his brother. Although since he’s not in law enforcement, it would be considered an illegal act of REVENGE! He tracked down the killers by their voices. They had intentionally committed a crime in order to get put into a detention center for 6 months. That distracted the police from the murder they had committed and after that time they would come out and carry on with living. In other words, they would get away with murder. Joo Il-Woo also intentionally committed a crime in order to get put into the same detention center.

Joo Il-Woo knew the voices, but he wasn’t sure who killed his brother. He also didn’t know about the corrupt officials, what they had done to his brother, and what they were going to do to him while he was there. His brother’s murderer had called for backup. Another person was intentionally transferred to the detention center and had been paid to kill Joo Il-Woo. His revenge plan wasn’t going to be easy to carry out.

Main Characters:

Joo Il-Woo / Joo Wol-Woo (played by Jin Young, “The Witch”, “Yaksha: Ruthless Operations”, “Yumi’s Cells”, “Chicken Nugget”, “The Devil Judge”, “He is Psychometric”)
Jo Soon-Woo (played by Kim Young-Min, “Military Prosecutor Doberman”)
Son Hwan (played by Kim Dong-Hwi, “The Deal”, “Missing: The Other Side 2”, “Troll Factory”)
Moon Ja-Hoon (played by Song Geon-Hee, “Missing: The Other Side”, “The Tale of Nokdu”, “Alice, the Final Weapon”, “Joseon Attorney: A Morality”, “Lovely Runner”)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

IMDb: 6.3 out of 10 stars
My Drama List: 8.1 out of 10 stars
‎Letterboxd: 3.5 out of 5 stars

My personal rating is the same as My Drama List.

“Gritty” is an overused word in plenty of reviews, but it’s the perfect word to describe “Christmas Carol”. Although, “nasty” is actually a better word. The movie content is not easy to digest. On the plus side? A fantastic cast!

The author of the novel this movie is based on has an interesting background. Here are some other K-dramas based on his books or he was the screenwriter: “The Lies Within”, and “Gangnam B-Side”.