Revelations (Netflix) Review: A Timely Message… But Does It Stick the Landing?

To promote his most recent Netflix feature Revelations, director and co-screenwriter Yeon Sang-ho (of Train to Busan fame) gave an interview to The Korea Times in which he shared:

Nowadays, people only want to see what they want to see and believe what they want to believe. (…) Like everyone else, I’m curious about my life. I often wonder why my life is going this way. In that process, desires naturally get projected, and sometimes, we even lie to ourselves. When you desire something, you only see what you want to see, and you interpret everything in your desired direction.

That’s the core idea behind Revelations, a Netflix adaptation of Yeon’s webtoon of the same name. The question is: Did the feature manage to explore and deliver that message effectively?

Revelations follows Pastor Sung Min-chan (Ryu Jun-yeol from Little Forest, remember?) as he slowly becomes obsessed with “divine revelations” telling him to punish Kwon Yang-rae (Shin Min-jae), an ex-convict who is currently involved in a kidnapping. Investigating the crime, we have Detective Lee Yeon-hui (Shin Hyun-bin), whose sister was Kwon’s victim and who now has to juggle justice and personal vengeance as she tries to close the case.

This review is spoiler-free! But if you don’t have time to read it all, why don’t you pin our summary at the bottom?

Characterisation in Netflix’s Revelations

Revelations doesn’t take long to introduce us to Sung, Kwon, and Lee, the characters who are going to lead us through its narrative. A mere two minutes into the film, you already have a general idea of who they are and what is about to happen. Within fifteen minutes, you know enough to paint a quite accurate picture of their past and present. But we’re all more than appearances and the stories that are told about us. And so, those fifteen minutes can only scratch the surface of these incredibly complex personalities who have been shaped by their beliefs, experiences and the society around them. The narrative set-up pushes the crime investigation aside, and we soon understand that, despite the mystery thriller cover, Revelations is actually a psychological study of faith, morality, and justice.

The problem is that the information we are given isn’t enough to build Sung, Kwon, and Lee’s characters into well-rounded human beings that we — as the audience — can understand, empathise with, or properly judge. As the narrative of Revelations unravels, their demons and conflicts seem so superficial that our protagonists only become rough sketches of who they are supposed to be, failing to really ignite the ruminations the story is pursuing.

With the kidnapping taking a back seat, Pastor Sung’s escalating obsession is the thread that guides the plot and builds tension throughout two hours that feel a bit too long. As Sung spirals out of control, he becomes unable to differentiate between religious faith and delusion. Following director Yeon’s vision, Sung is only able to see what he wants to see, arbitrarily assigning meaning and reason to what he does, sees, and says.

His descent into madness goes hand in hand with Detective Lee’s hallucinations of her sister, which are portrayed with just a touch of horror. She’s defined by the guilt that has assailed her since the passing of her sister, and as she faces Kwon again, she’s forced to move past her own twisted version of reality. Unlike Sung, Lee realises that she needs to see beyond her own biases, to re-evaluate her own beliefs and prejudices, in order to save Kwon’s latest victim.

Meanwhile, Kwon is portrayed as two different beings, but neither of these facades is given enough depth to make him an interesting third protagonist. To Sung, Kwon is the devil himself, which feeds his fantasy even further and makes the film feel like a battle between good and evil at times. To his psychiatrist, Kwon is nothing but a “traumatised, broken” human being who needs to be understood. And Lee’s perspective of him dances between these two readings.

It’s clear that, as Sung becomes more and more monstrous, Revelations is trying to question what really makes a villain — and whether such a thing exists at all. What really makes Sung and Kwon different? Are they any different? The message, then, becomes quite straightforward: as we allow ourselves to become distorted by our views of the world, we can all become villains. However, that suggestion never really gathers momentum and, to the audience, Kwon ends up being just a plot device to ignite Sung’s and Lee’s simplistic awakenings.

Genres, Visual Identity & Performances

Revelations may be a thriller (because of the crime), a mystery (with the police investigation) or a horror/ghost story (with the church and Lee’s hallucinations). But the film also navigates more fantastical waters, as most of the events of the narrative (often trying to highlight Kwon’s diabolic influence) defy logic. With this mix of genres and a lack of solid exploration of these characters’ actions, motives, and personalities, Revelations feels adrift most of the time, haphazardly jumping between events, perspectives, and styles.

On the technical side, we need to mention that while some visual choices feel a bit out of place, some compositions are extremely effective, and the VFX is quite convincing. Also, even though the story itself might be flawed, Ryu Jun-yeol and Shin Hyun-bin offer excellent performances. Ryu subtly portrays his character’s hidden anger earlier in the film just to let it fully blossom later on, guiding Sung from a passive and hesitant man to an insane and relentless avenger sent from the Heavens. Shin’s nuanced performance connects us with Lee’s trauma, giving her an extra layer that, unfortunately, the script doesn’t help her sustain. Despite their characters’ shallowness, Ryu and Shin are charismatic performers and might as well be the best element of the mixed bag that is Revelations.

Should You Watch Netflix’s Revelations?

At its core, Revelations is a disturbing take on how fragile human beings really are and how easily our judgment of what is right or wrong, morally acceptable or deplorable, can be distorted by our own desires, beliefs, and biases. It reminds us that we might all be justifying our sins by seeing devils who don’t exist — simply because we refuse to look at the world around us differently.

Despite its intriguing premise, Netflix’s Revelations fails to execute its complex ideas with the precision and depth they require. If you’re looking for a straightforward mix of thriller, mystery, horror, fantasy, and psychological drama, and you don’t like gory films, I think you might enjoy Revelations. If, however, you are looking for a more meticulous exploration of the human psyche, you might be left wanting more.

I’ll leave you with a quote from the film to help you decide:

You see, most tragedies in life are caused by a combination of circumstances we can’t control. Things like the devil and monsters are created by humans to justify themselves.

You can watch Revelations on: