Jung_E is quality sci-fi with the makings of a grand universe founded on the strongest force of all: love. Now, making a good sci-fi movie in 2023 is a hard thing. Most of the time, Hollywood in particular, relies too heavily on special effects or expansive world-building. They don’t understand that yes, we want robots, space, and advances in technology that scare the shit out of us. But no, we don’t want to miss out on the way beings connect, fight, and love each other. That is at the heart of good sci-fi and the core reason why I really enjoyed Netflix’s Jung_E.
If you haven’t watched the trailer, Jung_E (which comes from the brilliant mind behind Train to Busan, Yeon Sang-ho) tells the story of Yun Jung-yi (Kim Hyun-joo). She is an elite soldier in the middle of a war. With sea levels rising, humans have sought refuge in space by creating colonies. Trouble comes when three of the colonies declare independence and the allied forces try to squash that. Our story takes place on Earth where the remaining survivors build weaponry and technology to defeat the independent colonies. And when Jung-yi dies in battle, the allied forces use technology to map her brain and create a super soldier to stop this war once and for all.
This is what the trailer for Jung_E makes you believe is the heart of this story. It’s not.
The real heart of Jung_E is Jung-Yi’s daughter Yun Seo-hyun (Kang Soo-yeon). She is the head of the research team responsible for mapping her mother’s brain. You see, when she was a kid she was very sick. And the only way that her mother could pay for the treatments is by fighting for the allied forces. And when the mom died, the grandmother was left to take care of Seo-Hyun. To be able to afford all that came with raising a child, she gave the corporation Kronoid permission to basically own Jung-yi’s likeness, brain, and everything in between.
Years after being taken under the wing of the chairman of Kronoid, Seo-hyun finds herself mapping her mother’s brain to find what makes her such a great soldier. To help activate all sectors of her brain they put robot clone versions of her through simulations. But every single time, Jung-yi pauses at a specific moment and gets killed. And no one, not even Seo-hyun can figure out why. It all changes when love enters the equation. Seo-hyun doesn’t know that’s what pushes the AI version of her mother forward, but when she does, it completely changes her.
This is the moment you realize that Jung_E is less of Jung-yi’s story and more of Seo-Hyun.
Seo-hyun is a controlled woman who gives nothing away. She’s punctual, on time, and barely displays any emotions. That is all by design because she feels wayyyyyy too deeply. You come to understand that when she breaks after emotional blow after blow. There’s this moment in the movie that has the same emotional resonance as the ending of Train to Busan. A moment where Kang does an amazing job of showing a woman who thought her mother chose the mission over her and who hates herself at the same time for being sick and “forcing” her mother to go on these missions that eventually killed her, being wrong.
When she learns this, she tears it all down. Her life is ending, the same sickness that almost killed her as a child has returned. And this time it’s terminal. So she uses whatever life she has left to free this final edited version of her mother in AI form and destroy the allied forces’ chances of using her mother for anything. Jung_E does something curious at this stage in the movie by making it so that Seo-hyun erases herself from this final AI version of herself. Usually, movies like this go for the big reunion or reveal. But this movie didn’t because they wanted to try something. And it worked.
As Jung_E is wrapping up and Seo-hyun is dying, she begs Jung-yi to go. To live her life and be free of Kronoid and the pain they have caused her. Surprisingly enough, this final edit of her mom…she hesitates. As a viewer, you’re absolutely shook as Jung-yi leans forward and nuzzles Seo-hyun’s cheek. And it’s at that moment that Seo-hyun and the viewer realize that the love that Jung-yi held for her daughter is still there. The AI version might not remember her daughter, that this woman is her daughter, or that she had one. But that love, kindness, and hope are still there. No one can take it away.
This is the reason why I loved Jung_E and why I cried multiple times. It tricked you into thinking that this was simply a story about a kickass AI super soldier and told a story about how love remains. Even when we think it’s gone and all that time has passed. It’s there. More powerful than ever. And as a viewer, I appreciate that Jung_E told this story about love while introducing/talking about a brand-new world, class politics, and the dangers of advanced technologies. Now that Seo-hyun’s story is over, the only thing left is to see what happens to Jun-yi now that she is free from those that exploited her.
Ultimately, I want more movies like this. I want movies where robots, zombies, and all sorts of other sci-fi things are going on. But where love guides the unlikely hero forward to save the day, even if she doesn’t make it out alive. And that’s not to say this movie is perfect. For one, there was a visible imbalance between men and women. Besides Seo-hyun and Jung-yi every other woman was invisible, there for two seconds, or used to guide the men around. And the villain of the story was flat and easily spotted from a mile away.
Jung_E can fix any remaining problems it has and continue with the story of Jung-yi by giving us a sequel. Personally, I’d love to see who sparked the war between the allied forces and the independent colonies. Because there are always two sides to the story. And I want to see how Jung-yi fits into all that and how she’s going to get revenge against the people responsible for the death of her daughter. Because she knows that she lost someone, that she was brought back, and that there are others suffering just as she was. And for a soldier like Jung-yi, she’s not going to take this laying down. She’s going to fight. And we will be seated.
Other Jung_E thoughts:
- I need Jung-yi to go to space and undercover.
- Of course, after she gets a new skin.
- This could be a great opportunity to bring in a whole range of actresses to play her.
- The robots and technology in this were familiar looking but fresh.
- That big boy that killed her in the beginning was terrifying as soon as those wheels came out.
- Goes to show you that even at the end of the world, misogny will still get you a job.
- And keep you in it even though you’re completely incompetent.
- Can we take a moment to appreciate the people who did the special effects?
- Because those visuals, especially for the AI versions of Jung-yi frozen in place. It was a sad moment. But dear lord did it look stunning.
- Please leave these actors love for their amazing performances.
- May Kang Soo-yeon rest in glory.
- That silent moment absolutely broke me.
- And made me appreciate South Korean cinema on a whole new level.
Jung_E is now available to stream on Netflix.
