Everyone experiences times where they feel out of control of their own lives.
In those moments, people desperately want things to make sense, so they start to look for solutions — the phenomenon is called Apophenia. It describes the tendency to perceive a connection, meaningful patterns, rules, or instances between unrelated things. It’s what makes the brain believe in things like superstitions, angel numbers and conspiracy theories.
Sometimes, people become overly fixated on this sort of pattern, and go out of their way to justify their actions.
That is the theme of Netflix’s “Revelations.”
Released on March 21, “Revelations” follows pastor Sung Min-chan (Ryu Jun-yeol), whose unwavering faith slowly begins to turn into an obsession to deliver divine retribution as he encounters a recently released sex offender, Kwon Yang-rae (Shin Min-jae). They meet shortly after Min-chan’s son was mistakenly thought to have been kidnapped.
At the same time, police detective Lee Yeon-hui (Shin Hyun-been), is haunted by the pressure to avenge her sister — who took her life after being tortured by Yang-rae.
This film dives into heavy themes of religion, as Min-chan’s unwavering faith starts to become something overly obsessive. He believes God has given him divine intervention to take matters into his own hands, so he convinces himself that he must punish criminals.
The soundtrack and cinematography set up an unpredictable tone for the rest of the movie. The use of close-ups of the character’s faces layered with eerie music creates an intense and almost uncomfortable feeling that makes one wonder what the characters plan on doing next.
The performances in this movie are fabulous. The actors deliver tons of scenes that show grievance and loss — all of which are acted out well. I almost teared up with the characters because of how natural and raw the emotions are.
Jun-yeol’s performance is phenomenal. At first, the movie made me believe that he was one of the “good guys,” but as the storyline progressed, he began to lose it as things slowly ripped him apart one by one.
I recommend this movie to those who are interested in psychological thrillers that challenge one’s perception of life. “Revelations” is an unpredictable movie with plot twists and music that keep everything suspenseful and enjoyable.
