Revelations Movie Review: A Dark Ride of Faith and Reality
Generally, people construct high hopes for Revelations as soon as they hear that it is coming from Train to
Generally, people construct high hopes for Revelations as soon as they hear that it is coming from Train to Busan director Yeon Sang-ho. Is Yeon Sang-ho’s latest thriller a masterpiece or a missed opportunity?
The director cannot keep making every movie similar to Train to Busan and certainly has to try something entirely different, as he had previously done in his project Hellbound, which was also for Netflix.
Here is our version of Yeon Sang-ho’s Revelations movie review with highlights of the filmmaking process and the performance of the stars. The post will help you decide whether to skip it or stream it straight off on Netflix.
Revelations movie plot
In our previous article, we gave an overview of Revelations film’s plot but for revisiting purposes, a pastor (played by Ryu Jun-yeol) believes that he has been assigned the right to punish the culprit behind the missing girl who used to visit his Church quite often.
On the other hand, in the same case, a detective (played by Shin Hyeon-bin) is appointed who is haunted by her sister’s shadow. The religion and reality-based facts are seen conflicting with each other as both the persons’ beliefs are witnessed creating tension in the story’s narrative. Check out the trailer:
Yeon Sang-ho and Kyu-Seok Choi co-wrote the script based on their 2022 comic book webtoon of the same name. The same two were collaborating on a Netflix series Hellbound where most of the inspiration was taken from.
He was of the view that fragility of a human mind is what takes it to its own downfall, a similar theme that he explored in Hellbound and 2013 animated feature film The Fake.
As per Variety’s interview with Yeon Sang-ho, he admitted that he wanted to delve deeper into human nature and didn’t want to pursue anything grand. He wanted more of “an intimate storyline”. Humans are vulnerable and being one himself, the issues addressed in this movie “ring true for the global audience”, he notes.
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While he and his co-writer were working on Hellbound 2, they came across the term Pareidolia, and instantly, the director “wanted to work on that subject” as it was very “intriguing”. This is something that only the human mind can do, he elucidated to Time.
Ryu Jun-yeol, Shin Hyeon-bin, and Shin Min-jae’s performance in Revelations
Human psychology and their individual belief systems are observed intertwining in the story at their best. Why? Because each of the characters has gone through tough times in their lives, one way or the other.
Their performances are defined by their experiences. For example, the detective has borne the grief of her sister’s death whose offender had gone through extreme abuse during his childhood by his father. This is where the psychologist testifies that the criminal should be treated with grace, becoming a source of extreme rage for the detective.
Contrarily, the pastor seems to be a loser who keeps taking care of the community Church for a long period of time, never being able to get a promotion to a higher authority church in the vicinity. Plus, he had to face his wife’s cheating which creates paranoia in his mind.
This is what is attributed to Pareidolia, as defined by the psychologist, a tendency of the human brain to see religious images in ordinary everyday objects. Again, the pastor takes hints in those images and sets on a mission to punish the criminal himself, crediting it to the signs from God.
The traumatic truth and the distinct mysteries of heartbroken characters are vividly evident in their performances. Sometimes, we can see a sinister expression on the pastor’s face and at other times, on the criminal’s. Calm yet menacing portrayals of the characters of the special two leads, Ryu and Min-jae, are deeply committed, manifesting some serious shakes and shivers.
Revelations movie’s best scene
The best scene of Revelations is the one in the third act where the fight scene between the three main leads, Ryu Jun-yeol, Shin Hyeon-bin, and Shin Min-jae, is seen. The director deliberately made it look awesome. There was a reason behind it.
One-long take for this scene was an intentional approach that the director, Yeon Sang-ho, adopted. He told Time that he had to get the scene right as it was a “really climatic scene for the trio”. He wanted it to be “special”.
He further explained that they rehearsed twice for the scene. He was “very satisfied” with how it turned out.
“As we were having more takes, we could feel that our chemistry is getting better and better, I could feel the liveliness and realness of the scene.” [Source]
The pastor was convinced in the scene that the missing girl was dead, as he felt deeply with his signs from God. The detective kept begging that the criminal should not be killed as he was the one who knew where the girl was.
What is one-eyed monster in Revelations? Movie ending explained
The criminal was a victim himself who uttered a very important clue when he was pushed from the building. “One-eyed monster ate her”. Subtly, there occurs another example of Pareidolia whose victim is Yang-rae himself.
The psychologist referred the one-eyed monster to either as the abusive stepfather of the criminal or the criminal himself as he tends to end his victims, in a whimsical sense. The director confessed that this is the first time that he did a film “without fantastical elements to it” and he surely sticks to it in Revelations.
Besides, he wanted to highlight psychological elements like illusions, delusions and traumas. For instance, rather than taking delusional divine messages as something meaningful, he misinterpreted them and the detective kept her guilt within herself whenever she saw her sister’s ghost, which wasn’t there in reality.
What do critics add to Revelations movie review?
Not many of the reviews are available till now but the ones that are recorded on Rotten Tomatoes give a mediocre rating for Revelations. However, some of them mark it as a brilliant work from the filmmakers.
One of such reviews from Ready Steady Cut says,
“Revelations weaves a dark, twisted tale of faith and trauma, with standout character depth from Yeon Sang-ho that grips and unnerves in equal measure.”
Fans reaction
Fewer than 50 reviews are available on Rotten Tomatoes from the general audience but most of them are again between 3 to 4 stars. Some have noted that the story lacked a strong closure towards the end but otherwise the “film is impeccable”.
Another one was on cloud nine while praising the actors’ performances, the direction and camerawork that undoubtedly created a grim atmosphere, much needed for the film to become a big bang at the screens.
Our rating: 6.5/10Â
Is Revelations available for streaming?
Yes, Revelations is available to stream on Netflix.
Genre: Mystery, thriller, crime drama
IMDb rating: 6.0
Rotten Tomatoes: 67 percent on Tomatometer (critics’ score) at the time of writing, no score on Popcornmeter as yet
Cast: Ryu Jun-yeol, Shin Hyeon-bin, Shin Min-jae, Han Ji-Hyun, Woo Gang-Min
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Writers: Yeon Sang-ho and Kyu-Seok Choi
Producer: Alfonso Cuaron
Release date: March 21, 2025
Movie runtime: 2 hours 2minutes
Will you be watching Revelations on Netflix? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
