[FANTASIA 2018] ‘THE WITCH PART 1: THE SUBVERSION’ Review

By mysterious circumstances, a young girl escapes captivity, splattered with blood, and runs through the woods to hide from her armed pursuers. She is just a child, and she’s found and taken in by a kind family. Back at the location of her escape, we meet Professor Baek (Jo Min-soo), amidst a room of slaughtered children, who berates the men who let the kid escape, and about how they must be shot in the head to kill. Who (and what) is this little girl? This is how Park Hoon-jung’s movie The Witch Part 1: The Subversion begins and pulls you in rather quickly.

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A decade later, the little girl is now Ja-yoon (Kim Da-me) and in high school, where she has a sister and is living comfortably with the parents who took her in. She has inexplicable abilities that have garnered her the nickname of “The Witch,” and she’s made a splash on a televised talent competition with her gifts and her singing. The problem is that this puts her back on Baek’s radar, and she sends a few other gifted kids her age led by an Gong-ja (Choi-Woo-shik) to grab her. For insurance, her steely assistant Mr. Choi (Park Hee-soon) is also involved. Ja-yoon has no idea why she’s being threatened, believes she’s not the person that they’re looking for, and evades conflict. But conflict has a way of finding her, and now her family is in danger. She must discover the truth…and it’s going to get very bloody.

Park’s a Korean director I’m very familiar with in the respect that I know of every movie he’s made…and simply haven’t seen any of them yet. He did however write Kim Jee-woon’s outstanding I Saw the Devil, which catapulted him into a very successful writing/directing career. In fact, his previous movie V.I.P. is also playing at Fantasia 2018. I can’t wait to dig into his other work now. This movie looks fantastic, practical, and polished. The Korean film industry and Warner Brothers have combined to create some richly textured, high gloss flicks in the past few years, and this is no exception. I also like the way this unfolds from a storytelling standpoint, for the most part. Occasionally you’ll be lost, but all is eventually explained to some degree of satisfaction. It’s tough to talk about it without ruining some amazing surprises that are in store, but get ready. The major draw here is a knock-out performance from Kim Da-me, a relative newcomer who simply owns every facet of this character. She pulls emotions out of each corner to create a fully realized character that you truly end up wanting to succeed. When it’s revealed what she can do, it’s a jaw drop. When it’s revealed WHO she is, the jaw drops even further. This girl is simply incredible.

Did you like Lucy? I know, neither did I. But somehow that movie raked in sooooo much money ($463 mil worldwide). Anyway, The Witch Part 1: The Subversion isn’t Lucy, but a lot of the concepts are the same and psychokinesis and super strength plays a major role…difference being that The Witch is quite good. It’s a little busy and convoluted, but when it gets warmed up the movie absolutely soars. It’s half of a coming of age kind of thing and half a spy film and ends up with a Total Recall level of squibs and violence. It also has one of my favorite performances of the year. I had a fantastic time watching this, and I think you might too. Don’t let the unwieldy title turn you off or feel like you’re only getting half of a story. This is a movie that is a complete story, leaves some loose ends, and ends with you wanting to see more. Don’t hesitate when you get the chance.

No news is good news…? In addition to playing Fantasia 2018, no information appears to be available on a release in North America. However, Warner Brothers only released the movie in Korea about a month ago, so there’s plenty of time and I’m certain someone (hi, WellGo USA and Magnet) will snatch this up shortly!