Life was Hard
2025 had some fun movies in Korean cinema, but no movie came even close to "No Other Choice"—not until I saw this movie. The Ugly is a simple but impactful drama that looks back on the hardships of a man and a woman, discovered by their son through a series of interviews. The premise may not seem that interesting at first, but it is made in a Korean style that I really like, contrasting the good and the bad in people and offering a deeply human experience without a mainstream happy ending. We often don’t understand the way of life of our grandparents, or even our parents, so this movie gives us a mirror to reflect not only on the story presented, but also on our society in general, and invites us to have more respect for our ancestors (and the cross they carried).The movie has a mystery to uncover, but for me it didn’t offer any real surprises in the development of the story. Where the movie truly shines is in the actors’ performances. They did a great job portraying believable and deeply touching emotions.
The movie also invites us to reflect on what is ugly and what is beautiful. As it is written in the Bible, God does not look at outward appearance but at what is in the heart. So what seems ugly to the world may in fact be beautiful, and what appears beautiful may actually be stained with ugliness.
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movie potrays a simple yet deeper message
This movie clearly portrayed how society's standard of the word 'ugly' affects the life of a person. Just how simply Jung hee was killed just because she was not pretty enough. As we already know how Korea is with beauty standards, and this movie shows us the dark side. Jung hee had a bad past, yet she was a kindhearted soul, yet she was killed brutally. It's sad to think of how she had an unfair life. But in the end when we finally see her, we understand she was never ugly, just the society said her that she was, and she just believed and most importantly, she helped her colleague yet was blamed for it.Was this review helpful to you?
Sometimes there is no reason
This movie portrays how people judge by looks.Like how every bullying victim is portrayed or treated.
The only person who didn’t (couldn’t) judge someone by their looks became the source of courage and strength for a victim.
A son who tries to uncover the truth about his mothers passing.
And the Ugly truth at the end.
That, often, there is no real reason.
It’s the personal taste of how society often describes a person “beautiful” or “ugly”.
And the one who couldn’t judge by looks judged by his assumptions.
And this movie proofs only God sees us how we are, from our inside, our hearts. ♥️
This movie has a good plot that hooks you till the very end.
Yeon Sang-ho Did a very good job on that.
The actors did their work so well that you completely empathize with the victim. You also want to know the truth about what really happened.
Park Jeong-min played both parts so well, I was really impressed by his acting.
I hope to see more great work of him.
The other reviewer said that the “why” was misplaced. If you watched till the end you know what happened and WHY.
This movie deserves more recognition.
It really tells a deeper meaning.
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A strong premise that forgets what made it interesting.
I went into The Ugly (dir. Yeon Sangho) genuinely curious the premise sounded simple, sharp, and full of potential. And to be fair, the cast holds it down. Park Jeongmin and Kwon Haehyo are reliably solid, Han Jihyun fits perfectly as the TV PD, but the real MVP here is Shin Hyunbeen. Most of her performance lives in her body and voice, and somehow you feel everything Jang Younghee feels without even seeing her face. That’s skill.But somewhere along the way, Yeon Sangho seems to have misplaced the “why.” Why is Younghee hated so much? What’s actually fueling the disgust toward her? Without that context, the whole thing starts to wobble. I kept wondering, were Korea’s beauty standards back then really that brutal? Because honestly, Younghee isn’t ugly give her some powder and she could headline a weekend drama.
If Yeon wanted this film to resonate internationally, he probably should’ve fleshed out that emotional backbone. The movie starts like it has something bold to say, but by the end it just… forgets to say it. Great performances, great setup — but the follow-through? Kinda vanishes into thin air.
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The Ugly Truth of Worshiping "Image" in the Eyes of Others
The story follows a man in his forties who lives with his blind father—a legendary craftsman of Korea’s finest traditional seals. He receives a call informing him that the body of his mother, who disappeared 40 years ago, has been found. Alongside a pragmatic, scoop-hungry documentary producer, the "ugly" truth about the mother’s death and her past begins to unfold.This is a movie about ugliness—not just the physical kind the mother was shamed for, but the ugliness of the soul. In the very first scene, the blind father gives a long speech about how people wrongly assume the blind don't appreciate beauty. Hold on to this sentence, because it defines the entire film and its shocking twist.
The movie is built on the idea of "stigma." The mother, whose face remains hidden for most of the film, is branded as "ugly." When she married, people mocked her, thinking that just because someone "noticed" her, she suddenly thought she had a voice and rights. There is also the stigma of bullying, the victim-blaming faced by her coworker, and the blind husband's own feeling of being "cheated" or fooled.
The most "ugly" things in the film are the "walls of trophies." Whether it’s the father’s awards for his beautiful craftsmanship or the old factory owner’s disgusting photos of his "prey" displayed like achievements, both built their glory on spiritual rot. In the end, the only one labeled "ugly" was the only one with a beautiful soul.
Everyone else is ugly in their own way. The producer is a hypocrite seeking only success. As for the son, he deserves an entire series of articles to describe his character. The ending is striking; when we finally see the mother’s face in a photo, she is a carbon copy of her son. If the son were a girl, he would be the "ugly" one.
He inherited his mother’s face (which looks average for a man) but inherited the rotten soul of his father—the man who killed his mother simply because of her looks. The father interpreted every laugh around him as mockery of his wife’s ugliness in a society that worships "image." A society that literally idols how it looks in the eyes of others. The son chose to keep that "idol" standing by burying the truth.
In the final scene, the son breaks down in hysterical tears, signaling his defeat. He surrenders to the social "idol" despite knowing it’s a lie. He chose to protect his father’s reputation as a "beautiful Korean legend." Shattering that image would be a massive slap to the face of society, and his choice was driven by pure selfishness and fear of losing his own status.
The movie is good, but the "reveal" felt a bit weak. Given the build-up and the documentary-style interviews, I expected a much bigger shock.
The first real shock is the mother’s past with her brothers, who only showed up for the inheritance. They described their childhood as a "happy family" right before the truth revealed she was actually a survivor of a very toxic family. She was honest and brave—the exact opposite of everyone else—yet she was betrayed by the person closest to her, all because of her face.
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