Revelations New English Movie Download and Story

Revelations New English Movie Download

Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Writers: Kyu-Seok Choi, Yeon Sang-ho
Cast: Ryu Jun-yeol, Shin Hyun-been, Shin Min-jae

Revelations New English Movie Review

I admittedly had high hopes for Yeon Sang-ho’s “Revelations.” For one, “Train to Busan” and its sequel “Peninsula” are hell-raising zombie flicks that managed to put a new, adrenalized twist on the genre. Secondly, Alfonso Cuarón, the man behind “Roma” and “Children of Men,” is a producer here. But as I settled in and watched a crucible about an unforgiving cop and a zealous pastor confronting evil, I felt nothing. I didn’t feel curiosity, exaltation, dread, or even spirituality. I simply felt cold. That sense of despondency isn’t altogether unintended. With “Revelations,” Yeon wants you to ruminate to the point of being hollowed out and drained before he provides any hope of deliverance.

Two parallel stories are happening in Yeon’s slow-burn thriller, each suffering in isolation from the other. There’s the reckoning experienced by Pastor Sung Min-chan (Ryu Jun-yeol), a young, idealized clergyman beset by his wife’s infidelity and the grim prospects of a new megachurch opening in his neighborhood that may be led by the playboy son of his mentor.

 Both crises test the Pastor, inspiring an anxious fury when he believes Kwon Yang-rae (Shin Min-jae)—a recently released sex offender—might’ve kidnapped his son. Sung pursues Kwon, leading to violent consequences. Meanwhile, Detective Lee Yeon-hui (Shin Hyun-been)—whose sister was abducted by Kwon years ago—must suspend her desire for justice when the former criminal goes missing.

The main strength of Revelations is also its Achilles heel. While the way of telling a story from multiple characters’ perspectives adds to the film’s intrigue, it ultimately leads to a loss of focus. For example, at the start, the pastor tells a former convict (Shin Min-jae), who is fresh out of prison, that the church is for sinners and God loves everyone. 

Soon, it turns out that the pastor has intentions that go beyond his religious facade, an aspect that, while brimming with potential, fails to deliver on its promised complexity. Ryu Jun-yeol fleshes out a character whose mere glances and silences and subtle dialogue speak volumes, such as when his pastor stares at the convict’s ankle monitor or describes the latter as a ‘rapist’. However, the screenplay sells him short. Similarly, the film reduces the detective’s psychological struggle to mere hallucinations; while the film tries to show how the struggle affects her cognition during a high-stakes investigation, it fails to make us care.

 It would have been better to eliminate the detective’s guilt angle and portray her as an agent who is in complete command of her decision-making prowess. Then, we would have had an even better film that juxtaposes its central themes in a way that jolts us out of our passive perception.

Amid all this, there is also the conventional angle of a killer and a victim of parental abuse that the film spends considerable time exploring. Where a mere mention of the fact that he has this history of trauma would suffice, the film offers a slightly elaborate backstory on the character. All of this is a pity because Shin Hyun-been and Shin Min-jae deliver earnest performances as the detective and the fugitive, respectively.

Ironically, Revelations becomes less and less revelatory and increasingly predictable the longer it runs and the deeper the characters get into the investigation. Ultimately, it is a series of contrivances that help the detective solve the case at the heart of the story. The screenplay narrowly avoids a descent into farcical exposition when a character references a key element called 'the one-eyed monster'. It feels like a curious twist of luck that the film, after its multiple missteps, avoids that last narrative pitfall. Luck, not divine will.