Four women, a van and a body in the trunk

Korean cinema has been handing women the keys.

Last year's "Project Y" sent Han So-hee and Jeon Jong-seo scheming through Gangnam's underbelly, while "The Woman in the White Car" dropped Jung Ryeo-won and Lee Jung-eun into a snowbound whodunnit stacked with reveals.

Pick a recent female-fronted release and odds are the women onscreen are the ones doing the dirty work themselves rather than playing the victim, in high-octane fare tuned to diminished attention spans.

"The Journey to Gyeongju," ope ...