
Her look is androgynous, and her family and friends don’t let her forget that she should be trying harder to look feminine to attract men. She is spindly, pale and rarely wears makeup. Her bulging eyes and blank facial expressions telegraph that she is frail, weak, and mild, only to release huge storms of violence à la The Raid when underestimated by her enemies. Ja-yoon does not fit either the typical superhero or super villain look. She dotes on her mother who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, she worries about her father’s health, she encourages Myung-hee’s impulses and allows her to push her boundaries.

Ja-yoon excels at everything, but is also shy and tries to deflect attention to those around her.
Witch subversion tv#
Myung-hee talks Ja-yoon into going on popular TV talent show to showcase her singing (and some other mysterious talents that remain hidden for a large part of the film). She relies on her best friend/sister figure Myung-hee (Go Min-si), a bouncy, silly sidekick who complements her solemn friend. With the family farm going bankrupt and both parents dealing with serious health issues, Ja-yoon is under pressure. She lives an ordinary life until she is 19. Ja-yoon’s story begins when she escapes from a secret torture laboratory at age 8 and is adopted by an older couple who nurse her back to health.

The first of three films, Ja-yoon’s captivating origin story delivers a heroine in the making. In lead Kim Da-mi’s second acting role, she slips effortlessly into the character of Ja-yoon, a young woman who escaped childhood imprisonment that gave her extraordinary powers. THE WITCH: PART 1- THE SUBVERSION is a charming Korean young adult thriller starring a superhero unlike any other.
