The Ugly(얼굴) Korean Film Thoughts(2025)

 

   The Ugly is a 2025 Korean film that was directed and written by Yeon Sang-ho. The film stars Park Jeong-min in a dual role, veteran actor Kwon Hae-hyo, Shin Hyun Been, Im Seong-Jae, and Han Ji-Hyun. The film topped the box office and made more back than what was used to produce the film. A low budged approach was used to created this film while Park Jeong-min didn't accept an appearance fee to cut costs. 

    A historic figure who created stamps as a blind man finds that the remains of his late wife were found suddenly after her disappearance years ago. The man's son and a reporter look into her death. They find a heart wrenching story that will change a family. 

     You can honestly piece together who did the killing early on in the first half of The Ugly. The plot is separated into different reporter interviews. The son and reporter go to the mother's hometown to talk to people who knew her. There are no pictures of the woman because she didn't like to have her picture taken. The stories that are told by the people who knew her are sad and devastating. Issues dealing with appearance, sexual assault of women with women being the blamed, power harassment, etc. I never understood how a female sexual assault victim gets the blunt of the shame in Korean culture more than the man that did the act. It's always been very strange to me. There's a lot of mental issues that arise in the characters due to them being born in such a desolate era. Some of the conflicts that lead to the conclusion could have been avoided with communication. The mother was a victim in all of the events. That last scene used to end the film really broke my heart.

   Park Jeong-Min plays two characters and does a great job giving them both distinct qualities. He plays the younger version of his father who is played by actor Kwan Hae-hyo. Kwan has a natural deep husky voice that the brings to his characters. Park actually mimics his voice for the character of his father and it's brilliant. Park is also known for playing kind of reserved characters as well. He's like this when playing the son. His moments of anger are very quick, yet impactful. You can tell that he wants to exploded while hearing the things that are said about his late mother but he holds the emotions in. I thoughts the rest of the performances where good. Park Jeong-Min and Kwan Hae Hyo's final scene together has some harsh lines and a big emotional breaking point. It's cinema gold. Honestly. Don't expect this film to be a horror though. It's a mystery thriller that paces you be making you sad, then very angry. 

  The Ugly is a good film that takes a part of Korean history and adds a side of dark drama. The mystery is easy to solve. This film is another on of those how you get there kind of works.  The overall result is strangely satisfying.