I admittedly had high hopes for Yeon Sang-ho’s “Revelations.” For one, “Train to Busan” and its sequel “Peninsula” are hell-raising zombie flicks that managed to put a new, adrenalized twist on the genre. Secondly, Alfonso Cuarón, the man behind “Roma” and “Children of Men,” is a producer here. But as I settled in and watched a crucible about an unforgiving cop and a zealous pastor confronting evil, I felt nothing. I didn’t feel curiosity, exaltation, dread or even spirituality. I simply felt cold. That sense of despondency isn’t altogether unintended. With “Revelations,” Yeon wants you to ruminate to the point of being hollowed out and drained before he provides any hope of deliverance.
There are two parallel stories happening in Yeon’s slow-burn thriller, each suffering in isolation from the other. There’s the reckoning experienced by Pastor Sung Min-chan (Ryu Jun-yeol), a young, idealized clergyman beset by his wife’s infidelity and the grim prospects of a new megachurch opening in his neighborhood that may be led by the playboy son of his mentor. Both crises test the Pastor, inspiring an anxious fury when he believes Kwon Yang-rae (Shin Min-jae)—a recently released sex offender—might’ve kidnapped his son. Sung pursues Kwon, leading to violent consequences. Meanwhile, Detective Lee Yeon-hui (Shin Hyun-been)—whose sister was abducted by Kwon years ago—must suspend her desire for justice when the former criminal goes missing.
Based on Yeon and Choi Gyu-seok’s same-titled webtoon, “Revelations” is a ponderous picture lacking narrative momentum. The overlong film careens from viewpoint to viewpoint, and sometimes from the past to the present without an idea of how to blend its many thematic elements together. Through the young pastor’s religious journey, Yeon wants to explore the phenomenon of Apophenia, which is defined as the tendency to see religious images in mundane objects. Sung comes to believe God is communicating with him, telling him through cloud formations or projections on a mountainside, to rid the world of sin, beginning with Kwon. Yeon doesn’t give us an indication of whether Sung is simply imagining these apparitions or if they’re really happening. He’s far more content examining what such unbridled belief does to a person. While that alone would make for an intriguing character study, its aim is often diverted to the less interesting b-plot.
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When “Revelations” isn’t investigating signs, it’s a dry, psychologically driven ghost story. Afflicted by nightmares and difficult memories, a guilt-ridden Lee is haunted by the spirit of her dead sister (how she died is a mystery the film perplexingly keeps close to the vest). Whenever her sister appears, the camera becomes woozy, seemingly levitating without any feeling of gravity holding it in place. No matter how often it occurs, like a cheap parlor trick, the stylistic choice is always aesthetically out of place. Why is there no corresponding visual trick used for Sung’s hallucinations?
Still, Yeon is intrigued by the kind of radical empathy religion should offer but rarely does. A psychologist character who testified on behalf of Kwon at his trial against Lee’s sister brings the traumatic truths of Kwon’s past to provide a reason for why he may deserve grace. That tantalizing conundrum, which should push the viewer to inspect their own limits of forgiveness, is often lost in between the film’s persistent desire to switch between stories, especially since we rarely see the world through Kwon’s eyes. If Yeon wants to probe the viewer about trying to find humanity in broken people, then why not put us in Kwon’s shoes? Disappointingly, Yeon doesn’t take that gamble. Instead, we’re always seeing this man as others see him, with a sinister, nearly demonic expression on his face. He is treated as an apparition, nothing more.
There are some stirring moments in “Revelations,” delivered by the film’s two leads. Much like his character, Ryu is totally committed, spiraling from a calming force into a menacing presence. As Lee, Shin also stretches the emotions of a character whose primary angst physically manifests in shakes and shivers. Both sell their respective character’s internal journey, even when the melodramatic action undoes their quiet work. An overcooked choral score also subtracts the air from the film’s foreboding mood.
It’s not until the end, when a subdued debate between Lee and the Sung happens, that we feel the philosophical weight of Yeon’s own curiosity with religion. The final scene is deeply revealing in that regard, offering an unnerving question for the viewer to consider by intertwining fate and faith. But by the time it arrives, “Revelations” has numbed us to the point of being an unanswered prayer.