The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion (2018)

The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion is the kind of genre cocktail that starts as an uneasy mystery and quietly tightens its grip until it’s pulsing with sci-fi menace and ferocious action, all without losing its human heartbeat. Park Hoon-jung stages the story with a patient confidence—letting mood, sharp visuals, and an atmospheric score do the creeping—while Kim Da-mi anchors it with a performance that’s both vulnerable and riveting. When the film does turn violent, it’s brutally effective and cleanly choreographed, the kind of escalation that makes you realize you’ve been walking into a storm the whole time. Fair warning: the gore is graphic and the tension can be relentless, but if you like thrillers that feel smart, stylish, and satisfyingly dangerous, this one earns your attention.

The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion is clearly aiming for a slick Korean spin on the “ordinary teen with a buried past” sci‑fi thriller, mixing mystery setup with sudden, brutal action. When it’s in discovery mode it’s genuinely intriguing, and Kim Da-mi sells the innocent façade well enough to keep you leaning in. The problem is it tries to stuff in too many moving parts, so the internal logic gets wobbly and the pacing can feel like a slow coil followed by an overlong, noisy payoff. If you’re here for tight plotting and clean rules, you’ll likely get irritated; if you can tolerate some narrative mess for a nasty, high-energy escalation (and you’re fine with heavy gore), it’s a decent ride.