You can't accuse Yeon Sang-ho of playing it safe. The man who gave us Train to Busan could have coasted on spectacle forever, feeding the global appetite for high-velocity zombie chaos. Instead, with The Ugly, he veers hard into intimacy and moral unease—a film built less on carnage than on silence, memory, and wounds that refuse to heal.
The new trailer, released by Well Go USA ahead of its September 26, 2025 theatrical debut, doesn't scream for attention. It whispers. And that whisper lingers. The framing is deliberate, the palette muted, the faces fractured by half-light and shadow. Park Jeong-min leads as Dong-hwan, the son who inherits his blind father's engraving studio and, inadvertently, the family's darkest secret. Forty years after his mother's death, her remains surface, and with them a truth that was meant to stay forgotten.
What strikes immediately in the trailer is Yeon's restraint. He doesn't show us the “ugly monster” that haunts this family's history. Instead, he lets us sit with the discomfort of erasure—how memory itself can become weaponized, rewritten, or concealed. The cut between the slow, tactile process of seal engraving and the fragmented glimpses of unearthed trauma sets a rhythm that feels almost ritualistic.
For anyone who has followed Yeon's career arc, this is a fascinating detour. From Seoul Station to Peninsula to the Netflix series Hellbound, his work has thrived on kinetic energy. But The Ugly—adapted from his 2018 graphic novel—suggests something closer to the existential heaviness of The Fake or even the fatalism of Revelations. If Train to Busan was about movement, this one seems about stasis: the immovable weight of the past.
It's also worth noting the premiere path. The Ugly will first screen at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival in September, giving critics a look before its U.S. theatrical bow. That timing, just ahead of awards chatter, isn't accidental. Well Go USA is positioning this less as a genre thrill ride and more as prestige—an arthouse mystery with commercial undertones.
The poster, stark in its typography and somber in tone, reinforces the marketing's minimalism. “Ugly things are scorned,” the tagline reads, daring viewers to question not just the characters' choices, but their own reflexive judgments about beauty, memory, and guilt.
Why the trailer matters
Because it doesn't give you the answers. It only sharpens the questions. That's a rare marketing choice in a landscape obsessed with spoiler-heavy previews. You walk away unsettled, curious, and maybe even a little haunted.
5 Key Takeaways from The Ugly Trailer
Yeon Sang-ho shifts gears
Instead of spectacle-driven horror, he delivers a restrained, intimate mystery rooted in memory and loss.
A family secret unburied
The story hinges on a mother's death hidden for 40 years, resurfacing through her son's reluctant investigation.
Visuals of silence and shadow
The trailer emphasizes muted tones, fragmented light, and slow rhythm—less horror, more atmosphere.
From graphic novel to screen
This adaptation of Yeon's 2018 graphic novel promises thematic depth beyond its thriller surface.
Strategic release path
Premiering at TIFF 2025 before a U.S. theatrical release on September 26, the film is positioned for festival prestige and arthouse appeal.
What do you think—does this quieter, more introspective Yeon Sang-ho intrigue you, or do you prefer the adrenaline of his earlier zombie epics?
