Yeon Sang-ho's 'Revelations' dives into human nature, faith

‘Train to Busan,’ ‘Hellbound’ director collaborates with Alfonso Cuaron for new Netflix film

By Baek Byung-yeul

Director Yeon Sang-ho says his latest film “Revelations” delves into the psychological turmoil of individuals clinging to their own beliefs, avoiding fantasy for a realistic portrayal of their descent into destruction and the possibility of salvation.

"This film is about a series of what people believe to be revelations. That's why I chose 'Revelations' as the title," the director said Tuesday during a press conference in Seoul.

"Revelations" is a Netflix film based on the 2022 online comic of the same title, with the story written by the director and illustrations by cartoonist Choi Gye-seok.

The movie tells the story of pastor Sung Min-chan (Ryu Jun-yeol), who believes that punishing the culprit of a missing person case is God's revelation, and detective Lee Yeon-hui (Shin Hyun-bin), who is haunted by the vision of her dead younger sibling, as they pursue their respective beliefs.

Yeon, famous for his 2016 zombie movie "Train to Busan," 2020 movie "Peninsula" and Netflix series "Hellbound," said that the new film is based on the original comic but has a different tone.

"Sung Min-chan is described as a secular figure in the original comic. But Ryu said that rather than making him a secular character, it would be easier to empathize with a normal and faithful person, which would make the character's arc more impactful, so I reflected that a lot," he said.

The film gained attention when it was announced that director Alfonso Cuaron signed on as an executive producer. The Mexican director earned the Golden Lion Award at the 75th Venice International Film Festival and garnered the Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Foreign Language Film awards at the 91st Academy Awards for his 2018 Netflix film "Roma."

Yeon said that Cuaron contacted him through the production company, expressing his desire to work together.

"I had many conversations with Alfonso about whether a story with Korean material could be made globally. He liked these conversations and said that it would be a universal story, not just a Korean one, so we developed the story together," the director said.

Ryu, who plays the role of the pastor, explained that the film deals with human nature that people all over the world can relate to.

"This film contains a lot of stories about human nature. Among them, faith is central, and it's a very realistic story about what choices you make and how far you can go," he said. "I thought people all over the world would relate to it as if it were their own story."

Shin, who took on the role of a detective, said she enjoyed the filming process, thanks to the director's trust in allowing her to act with creative freedom.

"The director trusted us and gave us the freedom to act comfortably and freely," she said. "It was interesting because, while there is genre-based fun, the choices the characters make in the moments they face are shown differently."

“Revelations” will be released Friday on Netflix.