The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion review.
The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion packs a mini-series worth of story into an entertaining movie. It’s an impressive feat to build out a world as rich and interesting in as short a time as it does. It has something for fans of many different genres.
Classic movie reviews will contain spoilers.
The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion
Directed by Park Hoon-jung
Written by Park Hoon-jung
Starring Kim Da-mi, Jo Min-su, Choi Woo-shik and Go Min-si
The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion Review
There is a lot more to The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion than you usually see in a movie. It tells a story that, at times, feels like it would be better served as part of a tv series. It’s rich in backstory and full of world building. Credit to writer/director Park Hoon-jung that it never feels rushed or overstuffed. It’s simply that The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion has so many interesting pieces. Any one of them could be the focus of a prestige mini-series.
After escaping a traumatic event as a child, Ja-yoon (Kim Da-mi) is left with no memory of her past. She tries in vain to uncover her history as a medical condition threatens her life. When she becomes an unexpected celebrity on a singing competition…her past seeks her out. A past more dangerous than she bargained for.
Of course, most of that is a lie. The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion tells you that story for two acts. Da-mi sells every step of it as the helpless Ja-yoon being threatened by a past of violence she claims to not recall. But she does. Everything that happens in the story is done in service of Ja-yoon finding a cure for her ailment. As a child she feigns amnesia when she is found by the country living couple she knows will care for her. Living off the radar…Ja-yoon assumes the role of a normal girl. She is anything but.
The singing competition is a ruse too. Ja-yoon purposely gains national attention so that she can be found by the people who created her. She needs that cure…and going back home is the only way to get it. She can effortlessly win the competition because she is able to effortlessly do anything. Ja-yoon was designed to succeed at everything. Including convincing the people who should know better that she doesn’t know what she’s capable of.
The truth about Ja-yoon comes in a flash of violence when people come to her home to take her in. Without an expression she quickly dispatches everyone around her. She then returns to her state of denial and ignorance. She still has work to do. On top of being the peak of every aspect a human can be…she also has been genetically modified with super powers. Which is exactly the kind of thing the people that made her should have considered before bringing her back home. But Ja-yoon is so far ahead of them, while appearing to be lost, that they never stood a chance.
A lot happens in the first two acts of The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion. When it largely turns out to be a performance…the movie could have gone two directions. Either you are going to feel like you just wasted all that time…or you are going to be enthralled by the turn. The first two acts of The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion are so well done that you’re very likely to fall into the latter group. Ja-yoon’s actual backstory and phony present-day life combine into a fascinating character. And the third act is where the fun really starts.
It’s also where the film falters just a bit. The pacing of the first two acts is incredible. Balancing story with reveals…performance with mystery. I can’t say enough positive things about how well The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion introduces us to its world. When the switch happens and the story is pushed towards an action/revenge/thriller…it doesn’t pick up the pace to match. The final act, while featuring several fun and fantastic moments, takes too a bit long to unfold.
Maybe the reveal that Ja-yoon set everything that you’ve seen up from the beginning…in preparation for this moment…comes too early. We’re left with a fully unleashed weapon who takes way longer to resolve things than you’d expect from the build up and the glimpses of power we’ve seen.
Her main physical encounters are with a group of teens like herself. So it does make sense that she wouldn’t cut through them like she did the armed normal folk that she takes out in a flash. But she is also shown to be the best of the bunch…and receives an upgrade before the battle begins. The fun and flashy moves are a treat. Intercutting them at a slower pace isn’t.
It’s a small complaint. The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion does a remarkable job of creating an interesting character and unleashing her on an interesting world. A stellar cast and an inspired filmmaker combine to deliver a film with a lot to it. It comes in a sleek, confident package that entertains you from start to finish. The rich world they built would be explored deeper in 2022’s The Witch: Part 2. The Other One. With both films hitting Shudder this week…keep an eye out for our review of the sequel soon.
Scare Value
An incredibly well-crafted film, The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion will scratch the itch of people looking for all kinds of stories. It’s a sci-fi, action, drama with horror elements. A sprawling but personal epic. A sequel was inevitable…and when the credits roll on this entry, you’ll be thankful for that. The world built was simply too interesting to deny a return visit.
4/5
The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion Links
Streaming on Amazon Prime
Streaming on Peacock
Coming to Shudder tomorrow
Rent/Buy on VOD from Vudu
Buy on Blu-Ray from Amazon
The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion Trailer
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