Four years after bringing us the stellar first installment of his trilogy “The Witch”, writer/director Park Hoon-jung returns with the bigger and more ambitious sequel, The Witch: Part 2. The Other One.
After a pregnant teen is abducted from a school trip by Dr. Baek and her organisation, she is told that her future children are important to their cause. Years later, a young girl known only as “girl” or “Ark 1” with extraordinary powers escapes from the Ark, a top-secret facility, and, because of her abilities, is tracked by various interested parties.
In the first film, Hoon-jung not only made a highly entertaining and thrilling action-horror but also crafted the foundations of an interesting world. In this sequel, which we would call more of a companion piece than a typical sequel, that world has expanded. Ja-yoon from Part 1 is no longer the most powerful being that Dr. Baek has created as we, the audience, previously thought, which opens up so many avenues for where the story could go. However, with most middle chapters of a trilogy, some of the choices as to how the story is told leading up to the final part and climax can seem a bit too safe or similar. “Ark 1″‘s story is very similar to that of Ja-yoon where once she is out in the world, she latches on to regular civilians before her powers are revealed to devasting effect. That being said, the pace at which we get to some of the incredible action is much swifter than its predecessor, but the beats are most definitely similar.
The action itself is considerably more intense in terms of scope and spectacle – which most likely comes from not only a larger budget but the idea of making the protagonist a much more powerful entity. The special effects and set pieces are a tremendous joy to behold, but it fails to capture that particular claustrophobic and impactful nature that the corridors scenes toward the climax of Part 1 possessed. Like with Part 1, Hoon-jung has used his keen sense of immense talent to once again find a future star in Shin Si-ah who plays our titular witch. Her performance echoes that of Kim Da-mi but she also manages to stand out on her own – helped by the talent of the great supporting cast including Park Eun-bin making her return to feature films.
The Witch: Part 2. The Other One is another outstanding South Korean action film that complements Part 1 and also entices the audience into peak anticipation for its final chapter even though it plays it safe with some of the story elements. It’s full of bigger action set pieces than its predecessor along with great pacing and capped off with a lead performance of another sensational debut actor in Shin Si-ah – we are most certainly very excited for Part 3!
The Witch: Part 2. The Other One is out on VOD in the UK from November 28th 2022, courtesy of Signature Entertainment.
