Film Review: The Ugly (2025)


A few days ago, I watched the film The Ugly at Megabox in COEX(Seoul).
Overall, it wasn’t exactly my kind of movie, but the performances by Park Jung-min and Kwon Hae-hyo were truly impressive.
In particular, when Park Jung-min played the younger version of the father, his tone of voice and the way he carried himself so closely resembled the older father that it gave me chills.
As I watched the final scene and let my thoughts wander, I realized that I was also evaluating that “face.”The moment left me with a quiet “ah…” kind of feeling. I don’t know if that was what the director intended, but it was a scene that lingered in my mind for a long time.
After the screening, the actors and the director came on stage to thank the audience.
What surprised me was that there were quite a few international fans of Park Jung-min in the audience. They didn’t seem very fluent in Korean, and I found myself wondering how they experienced the film without subtitles.
But then I remembered when I used to admire foreign actors. Even without subtitles, just watching their films made me happy as a fan. In that sense, I could understand exactly how those fans might have felt.
I hope watching the film and seeing Park Jung-min on stage in Korea became a joyful memory for them as well.