The Ugly (2025)

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.

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