This is going to be difficult to review, mainly because it was a difficult movie to even watch. That’s not to say it was a bad movie, far from it. But the subject matter itself – the Gwangju Uprising – makes it impossible for the movie to be anything but heavy and depressing. I should add a trigger warning here for rape and violence. If these topics trigger you, do not continue reading.
A Petal (directed by Jang Sun-woo) centres around a mentally disturbed, dishevelled girl (played by Lee Jung Hyun) who clings to a vagrant construction worker, Jang (played by Moon Sung Geun), despite his constant abuse and insults. As we get a glimpse into her daily life, we learn about her background, particularly about how the Gwangju Uprising caused her to end up in her current situation.
[WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD]
To give a brief background for those who may not be familiar with this bit of Korean history, the Gwangju Uprising refers to the series of student-led protests in Gwangju, South Korea, in May 1980, against the coup led by Chun Doo-hwan, and the violent suppression by the military which resulted in a massacre. This marked a significant turning point in the country’s push for democracy, although the country only achieved full democratization years later.
In A Petal, we’re following a girl as she relentlessly returns to the vagrant construction worker, Jang, time and time again, even as he abuses her and tries to get rid of her. His attempts at getting her to leave include screaming at her, violence, and even rape. So it’s really not an easy film to watch at all as she takes all the abuse and even laughs it off. She’s evidently physically present but mentally not.
Besides these two characters, we are also introduced to a group of students who are looking for her, as well as other people living in the same area as Jang, including other construction workers. The group of students happen to be of the girl’s brother, who was accidentally killed in the military, and they remained hopeful throughout that the girl survived the Gwangju Massacre.
In probably the most intense (which is no mean feat, given that the essence of the movie itself is intense) and heartbreaking scene, we see Jang following the girl to a grave, where she starts to recount what had happened to her – from her mother receiving news about her brother’s death to her following her mother to Gwangju to join the protests, to her leaving her mother behind to die on the streets. We see all these scenes through flashbacks, and it was particularly heartwrenching to see her desperately freeing herself from her mother’s grip. The retelling of her story ends with the girl being hauled off to a dump site (mass graves) with a truckload of corpses, and she barely manages to escape.
I was emotionally spent by the time we got to the end of the film because of all the horrifying scenes, the violence, the sexual assault, the pain… but there was also no denying that the film itself was a masterpiece. In particular, Lee Jung-hyun’s acting was, to put it simply, INSANE. This was her debut, and the rawness that she showed at 15 (which is quite crazy thinking about how this probably wouldn’t be allowed in the industry today) was phenomenal. It is also noteworthy that the film actually spurred the Korean public to demand the truth behind the Gwangju Uprising, leading the government to eventually open previously classified files on the massacre.
It has now been 45 years since the Gwangju Uprising, and Chun Doo-hwan is already deceased, but the incident continues to be the subject of movies, and remains fresh in the minds of the Korean public. It is probably for good reason too because just last year, then-president Yoon had tried to enact martial law, and honestly, just the thought of how close South Korea was to yet another round of martial law terrifies me. And this is why it is important to study history. Lest we forget!
But my heart breaks for this innocent girl…
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This film was screened at the 2025 Jeonju International Film Festival.
