Writer/director Yeon Sang-ho swaps zombies for misogynists in darkly compelling mystery The Ugly.
Yeon Sang-ho cut his teeth as an animator before bringing his knack for interpersonal drama and stylized violence to his 2016 live-action debut Train to Busan. The zombie thriller was massive success, launching a global franchise, and making Yeon one of the most prominent filmmakers working in South Korea today. Since then he’s largely continued to work in science fiction, but 2025 has seen him turning his talents to mysteries. First with Revelations earlier this year and now with his latest film The Ugly.
The Ugly centers on blind engraver Im Yeong-gyu (Kwon Hae-hyo) and his son Dong-hwan (Park Jeong-min), who have agreed to an interview with television producer Kim Su-jin (Han Ji-hyeon) in anticipation of Dong-hwan taking over the family business. But the interview is interrupted by the news that police have identified the murdered remains of Young-hee (Shin Hyun-been) — the wife and mother the Ims thought had abandoned forty years before.
Seeing the opportunity for a bigger story, Su-jin pushes the duo to let her investigate the truth of Young-hee’s death. And though they’re initially reluctant to participate in a media spectacle, Dong-hwan’s desire to learn more about his mother quickly develops into an obsession.
Performance over spectacle.
Photo Credit: Pyo Sang-woo/Well Go USA
The structure of the film is extremely simple. Dong-hwan will accompany Su-jin to interview someone from his mother’s life, which will be intercut with flashbacks featuring Young-hee, a younger Yeong-gyu, her lecherous employer Baek (Im Sung-jae), and others. But Yeon’s writing and direction are top notch, as is the film’s casting.
The format means that even minor roles can make a huge impact, especially Cha Mi-kyeong who delivers one of the film’s most devastating blows despite just being present for a single scene. The film also looks fantastic, which is made all the more remarkable by the fact The Ugly supposedly cost less than $150,000 to produce. Far as I can tell this is Pyo Sang-woo’s first feature as director of photography, but his ability to elicit vastness and claustrophobia from the same locales is a key component of the film’s tension.
Yeon is clearly attempting to reckon with a legacy of misogyny in South Korea, which is a tall order but one the film manages to tackle more or less successfully. Park’s dual performance is phenomenal to this end, as is Shin’s despite the actress having to go most of her performance without showing her face. But there’s still some shortcomings here, and one can’t help but wonder if it could have been even more effective had there been a few more women involved behind the camera.
The bottom line.
Many will see the film’s conclusion coming from early on and those that don’t will still probably figure things out before the big reveal. And the conclusion itself does feel like a stumble when compared to the strength of the scene’s directly preceding it. But these are less actual failures than they are notable hiccups in an otherwise excellent film. Yeon’s direction, Pyo’s cinematography, and Park’s dual performance are more than enough to compensate for the film’s shortcomings.
The Ugly is now playing in select theaters. Watch the trailer here.
Images courtesy of Pyo Sang-woo/Well Go USA. Read more articles by Brogan Luke Bouwhuis here.
REVIEW RATING
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The Ugly - 7/10
7/10
Brogan is a Salt Lake City-based writer and film festival programmer who has watched more Scooby-Doo than the majority of the human population. You can find him on social media at @roboteatsdino or at roboteatsdinosaur.com
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