The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion (Manyeo) is a South Korean action sci-fi movie which I enjoyed very much. First of all this is in no way a story about witches or witch craft. The title named “The Witch” is entirely misleading.
The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion – Story in Short
Released in 2018, it tells the story of a girl named Ja-yoon (played by Kim Da-mi) who had escaped from a government facility 10 years back. She was taken in by an old couple and she grows up to be a bright student seemingly without any knowledge of the things that have happened to her in the past.
Her parents are in bad health and are having financial problems. So she enters a televised music competition to get the prize money so that she could help her family out. She does some magic tricks there to get into the finals. This is when her earlier life catches up with her.
This movie was written and directed by Park Hoon-jung (I liked his earlier movie – New World, which was an excellent crime drama with an equally good story line).
There isn’t much action in the first half. If you see just the first half, this movie will be clearly mistaken as a family drama (or maybe as a teen movie).
You have to keep watching for the second half of the movie. The second half is where the movie goes from bonkers to bonkers. This is where all the action lies. The story takes some startling twists and turns and takes you for jaw dropping ride. There is more than enough blood and gore to keep you satisfied.
You will most likely love the over the top action sequences (beautifully choreographed by martial arts directors Park Jung-ryul and Kim Jung-min) and overall performances by everyone. I repeat – the action is pretty brutal.
Kim Da-mi played the central character very well. The way she unleashes – wow – brings Goosebumps.. The film also stars Choi Woo-shik (who had roles in critically acclaimed films like Train to Busan and Parasite), Jo Min-su, Park Hee-soon, Go Min-si etc.
As I said before, I really enjoyed this one and is giving it 4.5/5.
If you haven’t watched this movie, then it should be available in one of the online streaming platforms. Do see it and say your opinion below in the comments.
The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion (Manyeo) is the first part of the troliogy. Now I am eagerly awaiting the release of the second part of this movie.
DO check out my other reviews.