He eventually leaves her be, but reports his findings to Baek, whose lackeys have been looking for Ja-yoon for a decade. On the trip to Seoul for the performance, Ja-yoon meets Gong-ja (Choi Woo-shik, Okja), who claims to know her, insisting they have a connection. A quick fix appears in the form of a reality competition show that Ja-yoon’s bestie Myung-hee (Ko Min-shi) is sure she can win. Her only problems seem to be a lack of funds to run the farm with, and a mother suffering from Alzheimer’s. Ten years later, the girl, Ja-yoon (relative newcomer Kim Da-mi), is a clever young woman who has her small community-and her adoptive parents-wrapped around her finger. A girl gets away and collapses on a nearby farm, whose elderly owners, the Koos (Choi Jung-woo and Oh Min-hee), promptly take her in and get her patched up. Choi (Park Hee-soon, doing his best to channel Lee Byung-hun). ![]() The slaughter unfolds in blue-tinged, neo-noir light, complete with flickering bulbs and slick floors, before the action heads outside where one of just two survivors, a little boy, has been caught by Baek’s right hand, Mr. The Witch opens in a hospital facility with a wholesale massacre of (grab your pearls) children at the behest of steely Professor Baek (Cho Min-soon, star of Kim Ki-duk’s divisive Pieta). Park has help in the form of influences ranging from Kick-Ass to Hanna and maybe The Man from Nowhere, and even though he relies on a hoary plot device that is well past its best-by date (we use 100% of our brains, full stop), the concoction he’s come up with is just original enough to earn a place in the Korean crime-revenge-thriller canon. The writer-director probably still best known for penning Kim Jee-woon’s bloody, torture orgy I Saw the Devil reels in the gore here (don’t worry, it’s not totally banished) in order to focus more squarely on the central character’s badass awakening. The Subversion, an often mesmerizing, occasionally kooky but thoroughly entertaining thriller from Park Hoon-jung. THE SUBVERSION reinvents tired superhero formulas for something deadlier, grittier and new.What do you get when you mix a classic Bond villain and some crackpot science into a Korean revenge thriller? You get The Witch: Part 1. Just like his I SAW THE DEVIL reinvigourated serial-killer movie tropes, Hoon-jung's THE WITCH: PART 1. ![]() The plot may seem to echo psychokinesis flicks such as THE FURY and FIRESTARTER, but Park completely upends our expectations with the film's propulsive second half. Nothing will prepare you for this movie's creative fusion of over-the-top sci-fi thrills, surprising twists and a climactic bloodbath that will leave you gasping. THE SUBVERSION, writer/director Park Hoon-jung, who wrote the savage Fantasia favourite I SAW THE DEVIL and is also represented at the fest this year with the violent actioner V.I.P., emerges as a filmmaker to be reckoned with. Within moments, Ja-yoon becomes prey for both her similarly gifted peers and a vicious hit squad (among them, TRAIN TO BUSAN's Choi Woo-sik). ![]() Unfortunately, the high-school girl is spotted by the tenacious bad guys, who have been hunting her all this time. Ten years later, Ja-yoon (now played by newcomer Kim Da-mi), who has no memory of her past, appears on a national talent show and lets her powers slip. One telekinetic girl, Ja-yoon, escapes and goes into hiding, eventually finding refuge with a loving adopted family. Under the cover of night, cold-blooded assassins descend to shut the program down and exterminate the kids. A nefarious agency has been genetically engineering a race of children with unique abilities.
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