Ramnyli

Kwon Hae-hyo's performance is astonishing. He portrays Im Yeong-gyu, a blind master seal engraver, with such depth and precision that you forget you're watching an actor at all. It's his first time playing a blind character, and he makes it feel utterly authentic. Park Jung-min is equally compelling as Im Dong-hwan, the son who never knew his mother's face and sets out to uncover the truth of her death forty years later.

The film slowly peels back the layers of Dong-hwan's mother, Jeong Yeong-hui. We learn what her life was like, how she and Yeong-gyu came together, and what drove them apart. The final act—especially the last scene—makes you question everything you thought you understood. The revelation of why she died is devastating, and it lingers long after the credits roll.

What makes it even more heartbreaking is Yeong-gyu's story. He was blind from birth, bullied his whole life, and constantly put down for no reason. His life never got better. You begin to understand how society and its standards can push people over the edge. The film forces you to confront the impossible expectations placed on beauty—how people become sheep, following the same cruel opinions without question.

Hearing what happened to Jeong Yeong-hui was terrible. Hearing that people laughed about it was worse. That is the society we live in, and The Ugly holds up a mirror to it without flinching.