With Smugglers, which is having its North American premiere at TIFF, Director Ryoo Seung-wan gives his audience a smart, playful, 70s-drenched crime thriller set in a quiet seaside South Korean fishing town.

Jin-sook (Yum Jung-ah) and Choon-ja (Kim Hye-soo) work as haenyeo, free divers who collect shellfish and other seafood, alongside a crew of other women. But they have fallen on tough times, the local factory has polluted the local waters so much that the sealife is dying. Needing to make money just to survive, they turn to smuggling.

It seems the dead spots where they used to dive now make perfect spots to drop off illicit cargo before ships dock and are inspected by customs. And it’s a great chance to make some serious money.

But when things go wrong after a sting, there is some serious tension between Jin-sook and Choon-ja, one of them serves time, the other seems to get away, was she an informer? When a big crime boss, Kwon (Zo In-sung) becomes interested in using this route an enthralling thriller begins to play out as sides are played against one another, there are betrayals, plans within plans, and lives are placed on the line.

Ryoo does a great job building the characters and the situation in the front half of the film, leaning into the 70s aesthetic and look before ratcheting up the excitement with some incredible action sequences, including a climactic underwater fight.

The film looks great, the underwater scenes are beautiful, and Ryoo makes great use of his frames, and delivers a really fun narrative that lets Kim and Yum shine. There are some great moments, and I love how the ladies out-think and out-maneuver everyone else in the film, but will they be able to deal when things start to go sideways when the final haul takes them into shark-infested waters?

Stakes are high and the entire film is joyous entertainment.

Smugglers was a surprising delight, and if you get a chance to check it out at TIFF, it screens two more times, Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 September at the Lightbox. Get tickets, check showtimes and discover other events here.