SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) — For those familiar with director Yeon Sang-ho’s blockbuster genre films and series, such as “Train to Busan” and “Parasyte: The Grey,” his latest film, “The Ugly,” may offer a surprising counterpoint: It is a powerful testament to his ability to convey cinematic depth through intimate, character-driven storytelling, unconstrained by a large budget.
Based on his 2018 debut graphic novel of the same name, the film follows Dong-hwan (Park Jeong-min), the only son of blind seal engraver master Young-kyu (Kwon Hae-hyo).
While filming a documentary about Young-kyu’s life as a celebrated artisan who has overcome his blindness, Dong-hwan is notified by police that the remains of his mother, the long-missing Young-hee (Shin Hyun-been), have been discovered at a construction site and that she might have been murdered.
Teaming up with the documentary’s producer, who thinly veils her ambition to chase an intriguing story, Dong-hwan begins to unearth the mysterious past of his mother — a woman he has never met and even whose name is unfamiliar — as she disappeared almost 40 years ago when he was just a baby.
The film’s narrative unfolds in chapters, structured as interviews with people who knew Young-hee personally — her two sisters, as well as former colleagues and a boss from a clothing factory. From their accounts, a unanimous judgment emerges: she was “an ugly woman.”
This statement, however, cannot be verified, as neither Dong-hwan nor the blind Young-kyu knows her face, and her face remains hidden till the film’s end. Meanwhile, the episodes about Young-hee all point to the same conclusion that she was a kind-hearted and compassionate person who was looked down upon only for her “looks.”
The film is impressively well-crafted, showing a level of quality that far exceeds its modest budget of 200 million won (US$144,000) with a small crew of around 20 people. The director took an unconventional approach to filmmaking, with just three weeks of shooting, which is around one third of the time typically spent for an ordinary feature film.
The ensemble cast, from Park Jeong-min to Shin Hyun-been, brings surprising nuance to their roles.
Park contributed to the low-budget movie by waiving his appearance fee, taking on the dual role of the son and the younger version of his father. Shin, in particular, delivers a compelling portrayal of a woman ostracized even by her own family, a feat accomplished with her face entirely obscured, using only her voice and physicality.
The film ratchets up the tension around the central mystery of her appearance, building to a climax where her face is finally unveiled in the last scene. The ending lingers, prompting audiences to question the very nature of beauty and who, if anyone, holds the power to define it.
Accompanying this question is one that Young-hee herself repeatedly asks: “If a bad person pretends to be good, is that person a good person or a bad person?” leaving viewers to seek their own answers.
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