It’s unlikely that many viewers worldwide would be expecting ‘Train to Busan’ director Yeon Sang-Ho to produce a talky drama for 2025. And by its nature, it’s probably not going to get the traction that the aforementioned hit got a decade ago (though it has been doing well on the festival circuit). Yet I probably will not see a better film during the rest of 2026 and I would strongly urge everyone to watch this on its US and UK release.
Im Dong-Hwan is helping with the production of a documentary on his father, a blind stamp maker who has risen to national appreciation due to the skill of his craft. The amoral female presenter is keen for a story and prods Im’s father about his miserable upbringing, but he refuses to give any information. All this changes when, while filming, Im gets a call from the police saying the remains of his mother, who disappeared decades before, have been found and the presenter inserts herself into the story. Her contacts prove to be useful though and Im is able to interview faces from his mother’s past to build up a picture of the woman he never knew.
Infuriating, upsetting and heart-breaking, ‘The Ugly’ is an extraordinary work filmed with a deftness of touch that is remarkable. My immediate thought was how a country so obsessed with image, where cosmetic surgery is almost required for anyone in the entertainment industry, can at the same time produce something so profound on the nature of beauty and how a whole life can be destroyed just because someone is considered ‘ugly’. Perhaps Yeon Sang-Ho intended this to be a critique of his homeland though it is as valid a criticism of Western media as it is of anything else. It also serves as a sobering look at disability and how we are in danger of accepting it in our own framing, almost as if sufferers have to behave the way we demand; a certain incident at an awards ceremony at the time of writing, when supposedly compassionate people are demanding fire and sulphur from the heavens, wouldn’t leave my mind throughout this story.
‘The Ugly’ is a work of brilliance that doesn’t offer easy heroes and villains, something that becomes apparent as the story progresses. It also cuts into how indifference or even mockery can be as corrosive as direct action; it creates an environment where the demonisation of a person for something that they have no control over can seep into everything. Audience sympathy changes throughout (though there are some characters in this that will make your blood boil) and the twists add layers upon layers of meaning. It’s also a masterclass in powerful cinema that doesn’t need to be graphic or obvious with its depiction of trauma; it sees the audience as intelligent enough to understand the subtext of certain scenes. Not that Korean cinema is averse to drowning the screen in blood, but it’s good to see a film not taking the easy option. And make no mistake, ‘The Ugly’ is upsetting and difficult to watch, the lack of a sense of justice being a bitter pill to swallow.
Superbly acted and meticulously built, ‘The Ugly’ is powerful and necessary. Starting slowly, peppered with moments that burrow under the skin and concluding with a gut punch, ‘The Ugly’ is something very special indeed.
Well Go USA are bringing ‘The Ugly’ to US Digital on March 10, 2026. For more information, visit wellgousa.com.
