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.

To be honest, I expected more. The plot was quite predictable - not in the sense that you could guess the ending, but rather that you could anticipate how the next scenes would unfold. The character twists weren't particularly fresh or surprising. Actually, there were many moments where the characters' actions felt a bit confusing and forced. Every issue in the movie, from the initial events to the ending, happened and was resolved too quickly.

The acting was decent. Shin Hyun Bin has shown noticeable improvement in her acting compared to her previous works. Ryu Jun-yeol, as always, delivered a solid performance.

Overall, the movie didn't leave much of an impression on me because its main message wasn't deep. If you have time and are curious, you can give it a try. But I know there are many other Korean films out there that are much better and more worth watching.

Revelations pulls you into a dark little world where faith and fear collide. The story follows a pastor who's lost his grip on reality after a personal betrayal, and a detective haunted by her past. Right from the start, you feel the weight of everyone's pain, and Ryu Jun-yeol and Shin Hyun-been carry those emotions with quiet power.

Visually, the film is spot on. The gloomy streets and sparse lighting give everything a tense, uneasy vibe. There are moments that make you jump, and a few scenes where you're left wondering if what you're seeing is real or just a trick of the mind. It's creepy in the best way.

That said, the movie sometimes drags. The first act spends a lot of time setting up backstories, and if you're itching for action, you might find yourself checking your watch. A couple of plot twists also feel a bit forced, and you'll catch yourself thinking, "Wait, how did that happen?" more than once.

Still, Revelations is worth a look if you like slow-burn thrillers with a psychological bent. It's not perfect, but it sticks with you after the credits roll, and that's hard to do these days.

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.

I really wanted more from this Yeon Sang-ho crime-thriller than what was offered. It has SUCH INTERESTING characters, a series of crimes that connect them, and the "revelations" that happen along the way. This either needed to be a full-blown character study or a seat-edge thriller. But Yeon Sang-ho decides to tread that fine line between both, leading to an okayish conclusion. The lead performances are solid, especially Ryu Jun-yeol who plays a pastor suffering from Apophenia.

The religious angle was always going to be the differentiator here, but I doubt it'll sit well with most viewers seeking a straightforward thriller sans theological references. The production quality is first-rate, and there's a spectacularly tense one-take sequence set in a derelict building. In fact, the film needed more such innovations in the thrills department to keep the plot progression from staggering. The current version is decent (for whatever Netflix offers), but Revelations won't be discussed as much as Train to Busan or some of Yeon-Sang-ho's earlier animated flicks.