Filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho is best known for his genre filmmaking, like the zombie movies Train to Busan and Peninsula, but before that, he was a prolific graphic novelist across genres. He has returned to one of those early graphic novels with The Ugly, an indie drama that suffers from a totally uninteresting story.
The Ugly Review
The Ugly follows a young man looking for answers about his late mother’s mysterious past, only to discover that his father — a blind stamp-carver who is obsessed with beauty — may harbor a dark secret. And if you’ve seen any Korean drama released this century so far, you likely know what that secret is.
If that sounds like it’s not really a complete story, that’s because it barely constitutes one. The Ugly is not quite a journalism drama, but also not an effective mystery. What we get is a melodrama told mostly through narrated flashbacks, which we all know makes for riveting storytelling (sarcasm).
It takes nearly an entire hour for the film to reveal its actual purpose, but by then, you’ll be a step ahead of it and know precisely where it is headed. It’s presented as a twist, but it’s the most natural progression of this dilemma. That’s the thing about these moral conundrum dramas: they are so preoccupied with preaching their message that they ignore the requirement of telling a good, riveting story.
And considering that The Ugly is based on one of Yeon’s graphic novels, Face, it’s pretty shocking that the movie looks as… well… ugly as it does. That an adaptation of something from an even more visual medium than cinema makes it inexplicable that the cinematography is as muted and bland as it is here. That being said, this film was clearly shot on a much lower budget than Yeon’s past film work, and the cinematographer is a novice, so maybe it never really had a chance.
However, that’s not the only way in which the movie is ugly — it’s also “ugly” in that it’s really mean-spirited. The film’s treatment of its blind character is particularly troubling. Although it might not be the intention, some of the things that the movie implies about this character are dangerously close to stigmatization. For a film that apparently wants to be about empathy, being so clumsy with its characters is a cardinal sin.
It’s also really hard to connect with the characters because of how poorly they are written. We don’t get enough time with the protagonist before we jump into his parents’ backstory, so it’s hard to get invested in his journey. Granted, viewers with similar experiences might have empathy working in the movie’s favor, but we know so little about him that the framing device just doesn’t work. When you factor in that the flashbacks aren’t particularly effective, either, the result is a very frustrating watch.
It is a shame that the characters are so paper thin, as Yeon has a pretty talented cast working for him. Kwon Hae-hyo (Yeon’s Peninsula, as well as a regular in the work of Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo) gives a performance that shows glimmers of nuance in its approach, but is unfortunately held back by melodramatic material. Meanwhile, it’s clear that Park Jeong-min (Decision to Leave) is running on autopilot.
Is The Ugly worth watching?
While it’s nice in theory to see a talented filmmaker like Yeon Sang-ho branch outside of his comfort zone, hopefully The Ugly is just a fluke. With his penchant for the dramatic elements in his films like Train to Busan, one might think that Yeon’s transition to the drama genre might be natural, but without an interesting story to tell, maybe that’s not the case.
The Ugly premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, which runs September 4-14.
