Scarlet Innocence

I really liked almost everything about this revenge thriller... Especially Esom, who is superb in the lead role. However, the plot is wildly implausible, so it takes an astronomical amount of cinematic forgiveness to truly care. Well made, but slightly crazy.

This is definitely a disturbing title. Scarlet Innocence takes you through the mind of main character Se-Jung as she seeks revenge on Hak-Kyu for taking her innocence. Many hidden yet somewhat predictable twists appear throughout the movie, which adds a sense of uncomfort throughout. I found myself asking, "When is this twist going to reveal itself?" throughout the movie. The ending for me personally left me unsatisfied, however, it's certainly hard to put an end to a thriller like that. I would say 20% romance, 50% thriller, and 30% psychological horror.

Tons of faults in its narrative, but remains a treat for the eye for various reasons (lmao) and definitely deserves a watch, particularly from those that enjoy erotic thrillers.

Synopsis: 8 years ago, University Professor Hak-Kyu (Jung Woo-Sung) moved to a small town because of a scandal. He worked as a literature instructor at a culture center. He fell in love with a young woman, Deok-Yi (Esom), who worked at an old amusement park. Once, Hak-Kyu was reinstated at the university he left the town for Seoul and left behind Deok-Yi.

Now, Hak-Kyu is a popular writer, but his Cheong (Park So-Young) blames him for her mother committing suicide. Hak-Kyu is also losing his eyesight to a disease. He is barely able to see. At this time, Se-Jung moves in next door. Nobody realizes Se-Jung is actually Deok-Yi, the woman Hak-Kyu betrayed 8 years ago.

"Scarlet innocence" is a romance-thriller movie that is loosely based on a Korean Pansori folklore tale "Simcheongga" which mainly tells a story of a daughter's devotion to her blind father. But this director and script writer was crazy enough to blend different genres into one movie focusing a woman Deokee who seduced or was seduced by that father Hak-Kyu and the tone of an ancient story is just freakishly changed. I took it for a look mainly for the appearance of handsome hero of "Daisy" Jung Woo-Sung. The movie's currently got an average mediocre rating of 6/10 from 225 users on IMDb, so I was even doubtful if the movie was actually worth watching. However he played here the role of a professor who went to small town after being accused of sexual harassment. There he met an innocent looking girl, fall in passionate love with her and then their relationship blossomed with suspense, betrayal, revenge and other controversial issues.

The two leading Jung Woo-Sung and Esom revealed during promotion of film that they had consulted with their father and mother before shooting those close scenes. Esom later said that her mother was so convinced by her performance as pitiful Deokee that she cried a lot (One netizen commented on the news- "If it was me, my mother would kill me right there-LOL!") However a BTS also revealed that they were actually playful and enjoyed the shooting. Perhaps that's why good chemistry was developed under optimized direction & overall acting was that realistic even from the professor's daughter and other side characters' side. Jung as an experienced actor met up expectation from his controversial role charmingly. And Esom being a newbie actress portrayed duality of leading lady role (innocence & femme fatality) who was once betrayed by her love and then sought for sick revenge very judgmentally and that was one of the strongest part of this thriller along with some colorful cinematic visualizations and movements – she was really worth of her nominations as best new actress for that realistic and touching performance.

Don't be blinded by love, don't be obsessed in revenge- otherwise some shitty things can happen and if the total storyline is presented realistically with some beautiful cinematography, so many turns in the plot, natural acting and insane direction, I who wasn't prepared to be haunted by such thriller with erotic tone can give it a damn solid rating of 8. OK, now for God's sake, I wanna get rid of such gratuitous realism!

Actually. It is not as amazing as all reviewers said so. I have watched least 20 -30 Korean movies and this one of my lows.

Koreans make excellent thrillers and I don't understand why they gave high reviews for this movie.