Infernal Affairs (2002) on Netflix
R20021h 41mCrimeMysteryThriller
Hon Sam, a triad boss, plants gangster Lau Kin-ming inside the Hong Kong Police Force. Cadet Chan Wing-yan is expelled from the academy in appearance only and sent undercover into Hon's gang.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb8.0/10139,416 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes94%
Trailer
Plot summary
A Hong Kong triad boss, Hon Sam, sends the young gangster Lau Kin-ming into the police academy as his informant in the force. Cadet Chan Wing-yan is meanwhile thrown out of the academy as a cover: Superintendent Wong Chi-shing has picked him to infiltrate Hon's triad and report to Wong alone. Ten years on, Chan has risen through the gang while the double life weighs on him, and Lau has become a Senior Inspector. Chan tells Wong about a drug deal between Hon and Thai cocaine dealers; the police raid breaks it up. A warning lets Hon's men destroy the evidence, and both sides conclude a spy is among them. Chan begins sessions with the psychiatrist Lee Sum-yee and jokes that he is a policeman; Lau, settled in the force, wants to cut his gang ties.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Infernal Affairs (2002)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Over half of the film's HK $50 million budget went into production costs, which paid for the score to use a full orchestra instead of a synthesizer — the first time a full orchestra was used in Hong Kong cinema.
- The famous rooftop showdown's dialogue was created on the spot by co-writer Felix Chong and Tony Leung, with Chong reading Andy Lau's part; the script's third-act shootout became a dialogue scene because Leung insisted.
SPOILER
Gordon Lam was not given the full script and did not learn that his character was also a triad mole until he filmed the final scene.- The success of the film inspired the open-world video game Sleeping Dogs from United Front Games — originally True Crime: Hong Kong before Activision Blizzard cancelled it in 2011 — whose protagonist goes undercover in the criminal underworld.
- Writer Alan Mak wanted the story to explore triad members going undercover inside the police, a premise no film had used before Infernal Affairs.
