The movie The Journey to Gyeongju (written and directed by Kim Mijo, provided by Lotte Entertainment·Michigan Venture Capital Co., Ltd., distributed by Lotte Entertainment, produced by Studio High Five, co-produced by Euphoria ENT) lets you feel everything from Dongbaekkkot Pil Muryeop, which approached a 30% viewership rating, to director Bong Joon-ho's Academy Award–winning Parasite.
The talked-about film The Journey to Gyeongju, which has been receiving overwhelming praise from the media, critics, celebrities and actual audience members since its first preview screening, draws attention by revealing a special reunion of the actors.
The movie The Journey to Gyeongju, a family revenge drama about four mother-and-daughter family members who embark on a "killing" trip after eight years of waiting to avenge their youngest daughter Gyeongju, who did not return from a school trip, has been receiving unanimous praise from the media, critics and audiences since its press and first preview screenings. In particular, Lee Jung-eun, who plays the mother Ok-sil, the centerpiece of the four mothers and the organizer of the revenge trip, is drawing attention for the 180-degree relationship changes she displays with the people connected to her from previous works.
First, in the drama Dongbaekkkot Pil Muryeop, the daughter Dongbaek (Gong Hyojin) and the mother Jeong-sook (Lee Jung-eun), who had to be cruelly left in tears, reunite as mother and daughter once more through The Journey to Gyeongju. Lee Jung-eun and Gong Hyojin, who moved living rooms to tears with their heartrending sorrow in their previous work, show a completely different kind of mother-daughter chemistry in this film. Divided into Ok-sil, the mother who only had her youngest daughter's revenge in mind, and Jang-ju, the eldest daughter who places family first and unquestioningly believes and follows her mother's will, they present an even more tightly knit and solid mother-daughter chemistry.
The relationship shift between Lee Jung-eun and Park So-dam, who collaborated in the movie Parasite, also draws attention. The two, who met as the Park family's live-in housekeeper Mun-gwang (Lee Jung-eun) and the private art tutor Ki-jeong (Park So-dam) and were "incomprehensible members of another family" who opposed each other for different purposes, now play mother and daughter and become "incomprehensible members of our family." Park So-dam, who plays the second daughter Young-ju and serves as the brain of the revenge plan with the sharpness of a law school graduate, adds interest as a realistic mother-daughter ensemble who, while questioning the mother's revenge plan, thoroughly prepares for it.
The most dramatic twist is the meeting with Byun Yo-Han, who worked with Lee Jung-eun in the drama Mr. Sunshine. Lee Jung-eun, who always warmly welcomed the young master Kim Hee-seong (Byun Yo-Han), the fiancé of the young lady Go Ae-shin, now confronts Byun Yo-Han with an irreparable bad relationship in this film. Byun Yo-Han's character Baek Sang-hyun is the man the four mothers waited eight years for to take revenge on. The chilling confrontation between the two, who once had a pleasant connection and now meet as a murderer and the victim's family who make blood boil at just a glance, heightens the drama's tension.
The movie The Journey to Gyeongju, which raises expectations among prospective audiences with the intense performances and seamless acting synergy of Korea's representative method actors, opens on Aug. 26 (Wednesday).
Meanwhile, The Journey to Gyeongju has raised expectations sharply by becoming the No. 1 advance ticket seller among Korean films one week before its release. <
[Photo] Lotte Entertainment
[OSEN]