Another Trailer for Korean Mystery Thriller ‘The Ugly’ About Memory

Another Trailer for Korean Mystery Thriller ‘The Ugly’ About Memory

by Alex Billington
September 1, 2025
Source: YouTube

“It’s an undeniably gripping story.” Well Go USA has revealed the full official trailer for a Korean mystery thriller film titled The Ugly, releasing later this month in select US theaters. It’s premiering at the 2025 Toronto Film Festival next month. And also happens to be the latest feature from prolific Korean filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho, known for the films Seoul Station, Train to Busan, Peninsula, JUNG_E, Hellbound, and this year’s Revelations. Acclaimed director Yeon Sang-ho trades spectacle for intimacy with a haunting tale of memory and moral ambiguity, about a son’s search for truth and a past that refuses to stay buried. “Ugly things are scorned.” Based on director Yeon’s 2018 graphic novel of the same name, the film stars Park Jeong-min, Kwon Hae-hyo, Shin Hyun-been, Im Seong-jae, & Han Ji-hyeon. It traces the journey of Im Young-gyu, a blind yet extraordinarily skilled seal artisan, and his son, Im Dong-hwan, as he unearths long-buried truths surrounding the mysterious death of Dong-hwan’s mother — which was kept a secret for 4 decades. This trailer hints at more of what’s going on – though they’re still keeping the substantial reveals a secret.

Here’s the main official trailer (+ poster) for Yeon Sang-ho’s up-to-date film The Ugly, direct from YouTube:

You can rewatch the teaser trailer for Yeon Sang-ho’s The Ugly film right here for the first look again.

Dong-hwan (Park Jeong-min), having inherited his blind artisan father Yeong-gyu’s seal engraving studio, persuades his father to star in a documentary about his life as a master of the craft who has overcome the limits of his disability. But the shoot takes an unexpected turn when the remains of their wife and mother are discovered after forty years. As Dong-hwan uncovers long-buried family secrets, he also unravels the story of a woman whose face has been erased from collective memory and remembered solely as an “ugly monster.” The Ugly, also known as 얼굴 in Korean, is written and directed by acclaimed Korean filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho, known for sparking the global K-zombie frenzy with the films The King of Pigs, The Fake, Seoul Station, Train to Busan, Psychokinesis, Peninsula, continuing on with the films JUNG_E, Hellbound, The Bequeathed, and Revelations, plus the series “Parasyte: The Grey”. Based on director Yeon’s 2018 graphic novel of the same name. Produced by Wow Point. This is premiering at the 2025 Toronto Film Festival. Well Go USA will open Yeon Sang-ho’s The Ugly in select US theaters on September 26th, 2025.

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