Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

The Witch: Subversion Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 9, 2020

Well Go USA has long been a go to label for fans of Asian fantasy and action cinema, but recently they’ve shown signs of wanting to stretch out a bit. In that regard, it’s kind of interesting that two different films newly released on Blu-ray by Well Go USA which feature more or less superpowered women who aren’t initially totally aware of their superpowers should arrive in my review queue more or less simultaneously. Abigail is a patently odd Russian film that kind of plies a quasi- Harry Potter ambience in a tale of a magical girl whose powers have put her in danger from an authoritarian government. Something kinda sorta similar is at hand in The Witch: Subversion, though this Korean entry is ultimately much more in line with the kind of chop socky entertainment, or at least over the top action adventure fare, that has been one of Well Go USA’s stocks in trade. The fact that The Witch: Subversion evidently was originally released under the title The Witch Part One: Subversion, may hint that even after a run time of (slightly) over two hours and a labyrinthine tale that introduces a slew of supporting characters, the film pretty much ends with the not so subliminal suggestion that things are only getting started.

Despite a longer than usual running time for a science fiction tinged mystery like this, there are still a couple of curious narrative elisions in the film. One of these occurs in the film’s very opening moments, as a hard charging woman who’s later identified as Doctor Baek (Jo Min-su) marauds through a weird, almost hallucinatory, hospital setting where she finally arrives at a blood soaked room that seems to have several victims under sheets. Later, a terrified young girl is seen running through the woods, with a host of paramilitary types chasing after her, and as the story unfolds and ultimately introduces that girl as Ja-yoon (played first by Kim Ha-Na in the opening scenes, and then by Kim Da-mi for the bulk of the film), who, as alluded to above, has a “particular set of skills”, I wondered if the opening carnage actually was a result of Ja-yoon’s defensive capabilities, something that wasn’t ever quite clear to me. In any case, in true superhero (or superheroine, as the case may be) fashion, after eluding her would be captors an unconscious Ja-yoon is found by a rural farm couple, who take her in, kind of like Ma and Pa Kent did with a certain Kal-el, raising her as their own.

The film segues to Ja-yoon’s teen years, where she seems to a a perfectly normal, well adjusted kid with a loving (adoptive) family and secure friendships. When she’s urged to participate in what amounts to the Korean version of American Idol: The Search for a Superstar, talents other than merely singing unfold, and suddenly Ja- yoon finds herself pursued by what seem to be two different sets of putative villains (including one played by Choi Woo-shik from Train to Busan and Parasite). That said, The Witch: Subversion engages in a bit of subversion itself, tending to both pull the wool over the eyes of and the rug out from under the viewer at a couple of junctures.

Suffice it to say that The Witch: Subversion offers an interestingly layered, if arguably too convoluted, tale that ultimately offers Ja-yoon becoming all too aware of her “skills”, which in turn leads to a knock down drag out final set piece that goes on for quite a while and ends up accruing a rather staggering amount in the body count category. The film is rather fascinatingly structured, in that a good, long while is given over to character development, with only hints of the superpower aspect let alone any indication that things are going to erupt into a violent free for all. That may actually end up making the film’s finale all the more visceral, even if it seems tonally at odds with much that has gone before.

The Witch: Subversion Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Witch: Subversion is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. I haven't been able to dredge much if any technical data on this shoot, and so can't authoritatively speak to what camera was utilized or what resolution the DI may have been. The presentational aspects here are about as schizoid as the general tone of the film, with bookending sequences (the opening much shorter than the closing) tending to be graded and/or lit toward dark tones (and actual darkness), with an emphasis on blue, blue and then more blue, something that definitely tends to deplete fine detail levels, even in some close-ups. Both blue and yellow grading and/or lighting does recur interstitially a few times in the middle part of the film, but a lot of that middle part takes place in rather brightly lit, even outdoor, scenes where the palette almost explodes into a more naturalistic ambience, colors are much brighter and more vivid, and detail levels really take a tick upward in at times pretty dramatic fashion. In these more "natural" moments, fine detail is typically excellent on elements like fabrics and even facial pores. While there's a fair amount of gore on display early on, the film really tips into blood and guts in the latter half (and really the latter third), and some of the practical effects work is quite stomach churning at times.

The Witch: Subversion Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Witch: Subversion features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that, analogously to the imagery discussed above, tends to offer some bombastic surround activity in the bookending sequences, but which tends to ebb a bit in terms of ubiquitous effects in the middle section. There's really good placement of effects in scenes like the "men in black" chasing through the forest early on, or later in a long sequence in what amounts to a bunker where more and more people meet their fate. The center section of the film, at least in its early going, also offers some good placement of ambient environmental effects in the farm setting. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free track.

The Witch: Subversion Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer A (International) (1080p; 1:21)


• Trailer B (International) (1080p; 1:33)


• U.S. Trailer (1080p; 1:37)

Note: As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the supplements have been authored to follow one another automatically (so that clicking on Trailer A (International) is essentially a Play All button). After the U.S. Trailer for this film plays, the disc has been authored to automatically move on to trailers for other Well Go USA releases. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

The Witch: Subversion Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The cover of Well Go USA's Blu-ray release of Abigail includes the tag line "discover your hidden power," a summary which frankly would have worked just as well for The Witch: Subversion. This is a film that requires a bit of patience, since it perhaps commendably isn't in a huge rush to deliver adrenaline jolts, but once it gets going, the carnage is pretty nonstop. Performances are generally quite winning, and if some of the plot strands are left dangling more than a bit by the film's end, there's at least the expected sequel to help tie them up again. Technical merits are solid, and The Witch: Subversion comes Recommended.