Something that I really do appreciate about In-ho's characterization is that he is so deeply detached from both the world and his own emotions, but whenever he is genuinely being vulnerable on screen, he never fully breaks down, he never shouts, screams, or lashes out, yet he is so visibly emotionally fragile in his own way...
You'd think somebody like In-ho - a ruthless death game overseer who we have seen murder with zero hesitation on screen and who also has been complicit in so many horrific things with full volitional autonomy for years - would be completely and entirely devoid of human emotion, which he may be when acting as the Frontman... or at least, he likes to believe he is.
Dissociation and emotional and moral detachment is a very common trauma response, clearly that is the same case with In-ho. He started off as a victim, then became a perpetuator - spent year after year building walls around himself, walls that he'd never allow to break, isolated himself from his family and any regular human contact, never allowed himself to heal, open up or be vulnerable, and actively and willingly performed as the leader of the same oppressing system he himself fell victim to all while adapting to a highly dehumanizing ideology to justify and rationalize the path he's taken, to justify the man he's become.
He became nihilistic, desensitized and indifferent towards human life - including his own. His trauma? He never moved on, he never healed, instead he's suppressing it all and hides behind a mask, both literally and metaphorically.
But unfortunately, suppressed trauma never truly goes away - it just buries itself underneath and silently waits to finally break out. He may have been able to hide and suppress, but there will always be a breaking point, even years later. Trauma, especially as severe as In-ho's, is permanent, ever lasting, and so are his open wounds.
We have rarely seen him being vulnerable on screen, but whenever he was, his subtle showcase of vulnerability was always tied to his past - when non-fatally shooting his own brother and then having to confront the emotional consequences of doing so, when genuinely opening up to Gi-hun (while there was intented manipulation in mind, and while In-ho had to twist the narrative here and there, his tears were sincere. He is still mourning the loss of his wife and kid, even almost a decade later, whether he likes to admit it or not. In fact, it was most definitely the first time In-ho ever opened up to anyone in a very, very long time, considering he cut ties to his family and the only actual human contact he had were cartoonishly evil rich snobs and his fellow murderer coworkers who were just as detached as In-ho is, so he never had the chance of actually opening up...) and finally, him tearing up when Gi-hun didn't end up making the same decision as he did - the decision that ultimately sealed In-ho's path.
Again, his emotional vulnerability on screen is so subtle and brief, yet so very telling. In-ho's micro-expressions, him shaking, him barely holding eye contact (when In-ho was bringing Gi-hun's belongings to his daughter, the guy could barely hold up his gaze) his breathing is agitated, he tears up, but then subtly tilts his head to not let said tears fall as if he physically can't allow himself to actually cry and let it out. For someone like In-ho who spent several years suppressing his emotional turmoil, it can be very difficult to let it all out... so he refuses.
But still, there are a few moments of In-ho's vulnerability despite his overall detachment, even if they may be brief and subtle. And it all just makes him so... nuanced, layered, and most of all, human.
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