Revelations (2025 film)

Not to be confused with Revelations (2016 film).

Revelations
Promotional release poster
Hangul
계시록
Hanja
啓示錄
RRGyesirok
MRKyesirok
Directed byYeon Sang-ho
Screenplay by
  • Yeon Sang-ho
  • Choi Gyu-seok
Based on
Revelations
by
  • Yeon Sang-ho
  • Choi Gyu-seok
Produced byAlfonso Cuarón
Starring
Production
companies
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • March 21, 2025 (2025-03-21)
Running time
122 minutes[1]
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean

Revelations (Korean: 계시록) is a 2025 South Korean mystery thriller film written and directed by Yeon Sang-ho and co-writer Choi Gyu-seok, based on their own webtoon of the same name.[2][3] Produced under Wow Point, it stars Ryu Jun-yeol and Shin Hyun-been.[4] The film was released on Netflix on March 21, 2025.[5]

Plot

A pastor who believes that punishing criminals is a divine revelation, and a detective in charge of a missing persons case who is haunted by visions of her deceased sister. A story of individuals pursuing their own beliefs.

Sung Min-chan is a head pastor of a small but cozy church, who finds out that his wife is cheating on him with her personal trainer. He additionally learns of the development of a newly established mega church in the same area as his own small one, and hopes to be selected by the bishop to lead it, as a reward for his efforts in recruitment of new members. However, the bishop's own son was the favored selection due to nepotism. One day, a pedophile on parole named Yang-rae comes to Min-chan's church and has his eyes on a young girl, a member of the church. Min-chan grows suspicious of him after accidentally seeing his ankle monitor. After the church session, his wife frantically calls him that their son has gone missing. Min-chan researches Yang-rae and learns of his criminal history involves kidnapping and physical abuse, which causes him to panic that Yang-rae might have kidnapped his son.

Min-chan stakes out Yang-rae's residence and discovers that he is preparing digging tools to bury someone or something. Min-chan follows Yang-rae's van to a secluded forest area and confronts him, only to discover that the van is empty with his son no where to be found. Thinking he has misjudged Yang-rae, he walks back to his car only to inadvertently see that Yang-rae has disposed of his ankle monitor, leading for Yang-rae to attack him. In the struggle, Min-chan accidentally pushes Yang-rae off a hill, and Yang-rae tumbles down and strikes his head on a boulder in the fall. His wife subsequently calls him and reveals that his son is safe and had been invited to a friend's house the entire time. Shocked that he has harmed an innocent man, Min-chan prepares to call the police and surrender himself, but he sees the likeness of Jesus Christ appear in a flash of lighting. Now convinced that God has given him the divine task to punish sinners like Yang-rae, he pushes Yang-rae's comatose body off a cliff to kill him. Meanwhile, Lee Yeon-hee, a homicide detective whose sister was raped by Yang-rae and had committed suicide thereafter when Yang-rae failed to receive sufficient punishment by the court, is tasked to find the young girl from the church, who has just gone missing and is suspected to have been kidnapped by Yang-rae.

The Bishop learns about his son's affair, and ashamed that his son has committed a grave sin in the Ten Commandments, decides to pass over his promotion to Min-chan instead. Min-chan, believing that his good fortune is a reward from God for his actions, confronts his wife, and she confesses to her affair. After that, he and his wife drive to a nursing home in a countryside for a religious event. In the nursing home, Min-chan is shocked that Yang-rae had not only survived the fall, but had crawled to the nursing home and has received basic medical treatment. Convincing himself that God gave Yang-rae a chance to live for punishment, Min-chan sneaks Yang-rae out of the nursing home and tortures him. Yang-rae claims that he has indeed kidnapped the young girl but refuses to divulge her location to Min-chan in order to hold it as leverage. Min-chan in turn does not believe Yang-rae. Yeon-hee investigates Min-chan and happens upon the place where Yang-rae is imprisoned, but she is knocked out by Min-chan. Min-chan intends to kill Yang-rae as a sacrifice to God, whilst framing Yeon-hee as the assailant. Yeon-hee urges him not to do this since Yang-rae is the only who knows where the kidnapped girl is, but Min-chan is completely convinced that Yang-rae is lying and that the young girl is actually already dead. Yeon-hee breaks free and fights Min-chan. Yang-rae tries to escape but falls to his death from the building but not before giving the clue of the kidnapped child's whereabouts to Yeon-hee. Min-chan is arrested by the police and during interrogation, he justifies his actions as the divine will of God. It is also revealed that Min-chan likely suffers from pareidolia and apophenia, resulting in him believing that random occurrences and coincidences are the work of God, and seeing images where there are none.

Eventually, Yeon-hee figures out Yang-rae's clue, and deciphers that the kidnapped young girl is imprisoned in Yang-rae's old home, rescuing her just before the old home was to be demolished. In prison, Yeon-hee informs Min-chan that he was wrong about the death of the girl but he refuses to believe her. Returning to his cell, he cleans a dark spot on the concrete wall with a wet towel, and becomes emotional upon seeing what he believes to be the portrait of Jesus Christ imprinted underneath.

Cast

  • Ryu Jun-yeol as Sung Min-chan
  • Shin Hyun-been as Lee Yeon-hee
  • Shin Min-jae as ex-convict Yang-rae
  • Han Ji-hyun as Lee Yeon-joo
  • Kim Bo-min as Shin A-young
  • Kim Do-young as Lee Nak-seong
  • Moon Joo-yeon as Lee Si-young
  • Bae Yoon-gyu as So Eun-gyu
  • Oh Chi-woon as Team leader
  • Woo Kang-min as Section chief

Production

Development

Director Yeon Sang-ho, who directed Train to Busan (2016), and produced by Alfonso Cuarón, who directed Roma (2018), teamed up while Wow Point managed the production of the film.[6][7][8]

Casting

In 2023, both Ryu Jun-yeol and Shin Hyun-been were reportedly cast and positively reviewing it.[9]

Filming

Principal photography of the film commenced in April 2024, and filming ended in June of the same year.[10]

Release

The film was made available to stream exclusively on Netflix on March 21, 2025.[11]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of 14 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.4/10.[12]

James Marsh of South China Morning Post gave it a rating of 2/5 and criticized the film.[13] JK Sooja of Common Sense Media awarded the film 3/5 stars.[14] Giovanni Lago of Next Best Picture gave it a rating of 6/10 and called it "disjointed".[15]

References

  1. ^ "Revelations". BBFC. March 21, 2025.
  2. ^ Byung-yeul, Baek (February 4, 2025). "Netflix unveils 2025 lineup filled with Korea-made shows, movies". The Korea Times.
  3. ^ "Netflix to Release Webtoon-Based Revelations Film Produced by Alfonso Cuarón". Anime News Network. March 6, 2025. Archived from the original on March 10, 2025. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  4. ^ Chin, Carmen (February 24, 2025). "Watch the intense teaser for Netflix's 'Revelations', starring Ryu Jun-yeol". NME.
  5. ^ Bernardo, Jaehwa (February 25, 2025). "Korean thriller 'Revelations' drops March 21 on Netflix". ABS-CBN.
  6. ^ Brzeski, Patrick (June 20, 2024). "'Train to Busan' Director Yeon Sang-ho Teams With Alfonso Cuarón for Netflix Thriller 'Revelations' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  7. ^ Merican, Sara (October 5, 2024). "Netflix Unveils 2025 Korean Film Slate, Including 'Revelations' & 'The Great Flood'". Deadline.
  8. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (March 21, 2025). "'Train to Busan' Director Yeon Sang-ho Explores Human Fragility With Alfonso Cuarón-Backed Netflix Film 'Revelations': 'Issues That Are Relevant in Korea Also Ring True for the Global Audience'". Variety.
  9. ^ 강, 다윤 (November 28, 2023). 신현빈·류준열, 연상호 감독 만날까…"'계시록' 검토 중" [공식입장]. MyDaily (in Korean).
  10. ^ 류준열, 신현빈과 '계시록' 촬영→'더 에이트 쇼' 공개‥본업 집중. newsen.com (in Korean). April 3, 2024.
  11. ^ Moon, Ki-hoon (February 25, 2025). "Yeon Sang-ho's 'Revelations' to be released on Netflix". The Korea Herald.
  12. ^ "Revelations". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
  13. ^ Marsh, James (March 18, 2025). "Revelations: Ryu Jun-yeol leads Yeon Sang-ho's disappointing Netflix thriller". South China Morning Post.
  14. ^ Sooja, JK (March 22, 2025). "Revelations Movie Review". Common Sense Media.
  15. ^ Lago, Giovanni. ""REVELATIONS"". Next Best Picture. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
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