The Woman Review
The Woman (2025) Film Review from the 29th Annual Fantasia Film Festival, a movie directed by Hwang Wook and starring Han Hye-Ji, Kim Hee-sang, Byun Jin-su and Nam Yeon-Woo.
With the new whodunit, The Woman, filmmaker Hwang Wook (Mash Ville) delivers a curiously bland Korean film with a good initial premise, but a lackluster execution. When one considers the fabulous lead performance by Han Hye-Ji, the movie scores some points for trying even though the ending may leave viewers scratching their heads wondering if they caught everything the movie was trying to accomplish. It’s not a bad thing for a film to demand a second viewing, but The Woman doesn’t work appropriately on the most basic levels after the first screening of the film. Still, Hye-Ji’s committed performance may make some viewers antsy to see her work in this meandering would-be thriller. This movie marks a bit of a disappointment for Wook whose previous picture, Mash Ville, was almost unanimously widely praised. That film had more meat on its bones than this new movie, but there’s still a lot going on in The Woman. The problem is figuring out the true meaning behind it all.
This film opens with a job interview where Sun-kyung (Hye-Ji) seems eager to get the position. She has moved around a lot and the hiring manager thinks she may not be a good fit for his company. Sun-kyung’s good intentions go a long way and, soon, she looks through on-line ads for a wireless vacuum cleaner. Sun-kyung agrees to meet the person giving it away (the effective Kim Hee-sang), a troubled soul who refuses the strawberries Sun-kyung offers him due to his experiences in his troubled past. It seems someone was almost poisoned. Then, this man changes his mind and decides to try to take the strawberries, but Sun-kyung’s offer seems to be off the table. Nam Yeon-Woo plays an old friend of Sun-kyung’s who appears at the scene to break up a very uncomfortable situation. Ultimately, the weird guy giving away the vacuum cleaner seems even stranger when the vacuum cleaner doesn’t live up to the expectations set by Sun-kyung. Then, someone dies.
Byun Jin-su ably portrays the resident detective in the picture who must research a situation where a key character “commits suicide” in a way that seems peculiar despite its cut-and-dried appearance on the surface. Moving at a snail’s pace, the plot gets underway in a haphazard fashion that meanders more than it entertains the viewer. It’s apparent that Hee-sang’s character isn’t playing with a full deck, but the movie takes so many unnecessary detours that the plot unravels in such a way that it’s hard to want to stick with it despite the compelling nature of Hye-Ji’s sincere performance which is one hundred percent earnest and digs deep inside the mind of her character.
The uncomfortable nature of the events surrounding the apparently well-meaning Sun-Kyung makes her situation relatable at times as she is clearly out of her element in the events she becomes immersed in over the course of the picture. There had been no evidence that foul play was involved in the scenario regarding the character who died. Maybe Sun-Kyung should just call a spade a spade, but she’s so wound-up that she suspects there’s a link to the death that occurred to another key character’s erratic behavior. Then, there’s the matter of the past which merges with the present to create more suspense within a plot that doesn’t know which way to turn next. It all gets extremely confusing with plot twist after plot twist thrown in willy-nilly for no other reason than to keep the movie moving along at a consistent pace.
Hwang Wook directs with a flair for visuals and an appreciation of the actress chosen for the lead role. Hye-Ji’s work is let down by the complex nature of the material which is definitely in need of some clarification. You’d have to watch the film a second time to piece it all together and the movie isn’t entertaining enough to want to sit through again. Nobody, it seems, is who he or she appears to be in the film which may make people want to see it, but the rather choppy ending leaves much to be desired. The Woman has its strengths and Hwang Wook is certainly a director to keep an eye on, but this new film is much more complicated than it needed to be.
Rating: 5.5/10
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