Revelations

Yeon Sang-ho's new Netflix film is a psychological crime thriller about a pastor whose life unravels after an accident and a haunted detective surveilling a serial kidnapper.

The main plotline juggles these two characters and intertwines their stories for what is essentially a throwback to an earlier era of Korean crime dramas. You know the kind of film: a rainy, dark and atmospheric experience that wants you to feel the misery at every turn. Yeon anchors the police procedural and ticking-clock thriller elements to a character study which grapples with themes like guilt, faith and mental illness. So it's definitely more ambitious than an average genre film. The result should be even better than it turned out, but it also could have been a lot worse, were it not directed by a skilled hand like Yeon's.

Of the two storylines that we follow, the pastor's is definitely more compelling. He's a timid character who does diligent work inviting new members into his small church community, but after a sinister man appears on his doorstep he begins to slide into a different person altogether. The detective's story is a clichéd one, not exactly badly written but bland and overly familiar. She sees her sister's ghostly apparition on a regular basis, and feels guilt after her suicide. So she takes special interest in the serial kidnapper who held her hostage, and is on the loose again after being released from prison. As I previously said, these people will all eventually meet in one way or another, and it is then when the film is most interesting.

There are flaws though. Yeon introduces plenty of melodrama and a gloomy heavy-handedness into the film early on, and it gets a bit tiring to follow all these people being constantly miserable. The narrative also suffers for it, taking its time to get going while we wallow in all the depression the film throws at us. It would have been a better decision to let things play out with more restraint, and there were times when I wondered what Na Hong-jin or Bong Joon-ho would've done with this story. But, as it is, Yeon also did a fairly good job, all things considered.

Technically this is a very well made film with plenty of atmosphere, quality production design and even a particular one-shot confrontation that marks the film's dramatic high point. As a whole, Revelations is a worthy addition to the genre which probably won't sweep you off your feet, but is a decent, sometimes thought provoking time killer.

South Korean director Yeon Sang-ho delivers a gripping and suspenseful experience in the first two-thirds of his latest film. Set against an increasingly tense backdrop, the story builds steadily toward a thrilling showdown in an unfinished house-an eerie, concrete shell that serves as the perfect stage for a psychological and spiritual confrontation.

At the heart of this build-up is the character of the pastor-charismatic, unsettling, and deeply complex. His god-like delusions and moral ambiguity offer rich thematic material, and it's here that the film seems poised to dive into bold, unflinching territory.

And then, inexplicably, it all falls apart.

Instead of deepening the conflict, the film abandons its most compelling character. The pastor vanishes from the narrative, and with him, the entire dramatic weight and thematic sharpness of the film. The focus shifts to a police officer's investigation-a far more conventional and diluted thread that lacks the urgency and existential tension of what came before.

This final third feels like a betrayal-not just to the audience, but to the film's own premise. What was once sharp and provocative becomes bland and toothless. The direction loses its edge, opting for a safer, less confrontational conclusion that undermines everything the first part had set up.

Ultimately, what begins as a promising, intense thriller fizzles out into a hollow resolution. It's a shame to see a film with such daring potential end in such a timid and characterless way. A missed opportunity.

Being a fan of Korean movies, I was thrilled to see what this movie is going to bring. I must say it isn't a masterpiece south korean thrillers out there but it's definitely worth watching.

The acting, the dialogue and the direction was all in sync with the story. What fascinated me to watch this movie is the way how one can be deceived from what they believe.

I felt the last 15 minutes could have been more polished in terms of writing to justify the whole process and to keep the audience engaged as I felt that the end didn't leave an impact on me but nevertheless it has it's good moments.

A decent watch!

7/10 for this one.

Nice Korean thriller with a submessage: Take responsibility for your own actions and do not hide behind a God or devil.

The movie is not predictable and has some typical Korean-style twists. Starting of as a kidnap story, the movie quickly moves towards a story about guild and religion.

The protagonist is Min-Chan, a pastor who - at first hand - seems to not be capable of killing another human being. After a fatal 'accident' with the main antagonist, a sadistic killer obsessed by 'the one eyed monster', things quickly take a turn and Min-chan comes to believe God has given him a revelation. The third character storyline revolves around a traumatized police officer named Yeon Hui, who has to (literally) face her trauma's in order to get her own revelations, in another way as Min-Chan.

This is the latest Netflix Korean offering, which stands up against several other similar movies.

So the basis of the plot revolves around a kidnapper and a Pastor, but the story takes may twists and turns and lines between good and bad are blurred, which if course is far more to how life actually is than most of Hollywoods superhero style movies.

It keeps you engaged throughout the whole movie, is she alive, is she not being a running theme throughout. Look, there are some flaws here, the storyline isn't anything groundbreaking + there's no big twist at the end, but it's thrilling enough to keep you entertained till the credits roll. Another downside is how the characters make some terrible choices; a detective goes to a suspected crime scene alone + the perpetrator not covering his tracks at all being two of the most notable. However these are mistakes many movies make and didn't ruin the suspense for me.

I also liked the way religion was explored heavily but never shown in a preachy way. Whether there was any divine interventions going on is left to the viewers imagination, which means neither Theists or Atheists should be offended, Lastly despite what another reviewer has said, the acting is superb, they put western actors to shame, i cried at the end. I think the other reviewer may just be racist.

All in all, i highly recommend it if you are a fan of the genre, if not, it may be a little slow for you.