Director Yeon Sang-ho’s new feature “The Ugly” has locked in a Sept. 11 theatrical release.
“The Ugly” follows Im Young-gyu, a blind but masterful seal engraver, and his son Im Dong-hwan as they dig into the 40-year-old mystery surrounding the death of their wife and mother, Jeong Young-hee. The film is an official selection in the Special Presentations program at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival, adding to the buzz.
Along with the domestic release date, two striking main posters were unveiled, presenting the many faces that define this Korean film in a distinctly stylish way. A collage of characters tied to Jeong Young-hee―whose face has been erased from memory for four decades―surrounds a silhouette carved out as if chiseled from a personal stamp, piquing curiosity.
Park Jung-min takes on a bold dual role, portraying both the young Im Young-gyu―who, born visually impaired, never even saw his wife’s face―and the son, Im Dong-hwan. Kwon Hae-hyo plays the present-day Im Young-gyu, sharing the screen with Park as the same man across eras and as a father opposite his own son. Lim Sung-jae appears as Baek Ju-sang, the owner of a 1970s Cheonggyecheon garment factory where Jeong worked, while Han Ji-hyun plays documentary producer Kim Su-jin, who chases the truth about Jeong. Their performances promise compelling chemistry.
One poster shows Jeong from behind, hunched under bolts of fabric―a single image that amplifies the mystery of the face the world has buried for 40 years and pulls you deeper into the story.
Leaning into the irony of Im Young-gyu―a blind artisan who carves the most beautiful lettering into seals―the campaign adopts a stamp motif to memorable effect.
The team even created character stamps and pressed them onto the poster, spanning figures from the 1970s to today who are connected to Jeong. The tagline “The truth is laid bare” teases a narrative structure built around five interviews that will peel back the truth behind Jeong’s face and her death, stoking anticipation among moviegoers.
The main trailer doubles down on the intrigue, framing two questions: who killed Jeong Young-hee―wife to Im Young-gyu and mother to Im Dong-hwan―whose remains are discovered as bones 40 years later, and what face did she truly present to the world?
A line from Kwon Hae-hyo’s Im Young-gyu―“You think I can’t tell what’s beautiful and what’s grotesque? Beauty gets revered; ugliness gets scorned.”―hints at the deeper themes Yeon is probing. Park Jung-min and Kwon command attention as they play the same character across timelines while also embodying a father and his son.
At a funeral where the portrait frame sits empty―there isn’t a single photo of his mother―Dong-hwan hears unsettling stories from her relatives about the face he never once saw. He teams with documentarian Kim Su-jin, who is filming his father, to pursue the mystery of that face and the truth that has stayed hidden.
Paired with the line “Feels like something must have happened,” the trailer’s cross-cutting between past and present ratchets up the urgency―raising expectations for how “The Ugly” will grip audiences when it lands Sept. 11.
“The Ugly” opens in theaters Sept. 11.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)