Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    Battlefield 6 Classes - Support trailer image

    Battlefield 6 Really Wants You To Play Support (But Knows You Won’t)

    07/31/2025
    Battlefield 6 Multiplayer Reveal promotional image

    Battlefield 6 Classes, Maps, And More: Everything You Need To Know

    07/31/2025
    A glimpse at all the upcoming Star Wars stories coming to the galaxy

    Star Wars Stories: What We Learned At SDCC 2025

    07/25/2025
    Blindspot episode still

    It’s been 5 years since ‘Blindspot’ ended. Why haven’t you watched it yet?

    07/24/2025
    Strange Scaffold

    Strange Scaffold Summer Showcase Delivers Bizarre And Brilliant Games

    07/22/2025
  • Fantasia Festival
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Switch 2 Games
But Why Tho?
Home » Film » REVIEW: JUNG_E Creates a Large Sci-Fi World

REVIEW: JUNG_E Creates a Large Sci-Fi World

Kate SánchezBy Kate Sánchez01/20/20234 Mins Read
JUNG_E — But Why Tho (1)
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

JUNG_E — But Why Tho (1)

Yeon Sang-ho has had a stellar few years. From The King of Pigs adult animated film to the iconic Train to Busan and, most recently, his foray into television with Netflix’s Hellbound, Yeon has explored a wide gambit of genres. Now, he’s back with Netflix for JUNG_E, a feature film set in a dystopian future where climate change has ravaged the world and a civil war between those in space and those on Earth has raged on for decades.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

In JUNG_E, humans have escaped Earth, which has been devastated by drastic climate change. And to end the war taking place at the shelters, the brain of the legendary mercenary Yun Jung-yi (Kim Hyun-joo)is cloned by those trying to develop the ultimate A.I. combat warrior. The person in charge of her creation and proliferation? Her daughter, Yun Seo-hyun (Kang Soo-yeon). With the civil war pushing the need for advanced weapons, and Team Leader Yun beholden to Kronoid, the development company, the complex decision between grieving your mother and keeping her legacy alive is tantamount to the narrative.

With her mother in a vegetative state, Yun is focused on one thing, saving her. An amazing fighter, the titular JUNG_E combat AI fails simultaneously, forcing Yun to relive her mother’s injury and work against time to perfect the combat to keep the legacy alive. But when Kronoid abandons the research to launch another project, Seo-hyun learns of their plans and resolves to save JUNG_E.

JUNG_E has complexity. As Seo-hyun, Kang Soo-yeon is a force. She is stoic when she needs to be, holding her own against the push from the company’s wishes, but in her stone-like expression, you can see the grief churning. In a layered performance, and sadly the actor’s last performance after her tragic passing in 2022, actress Kang is a powerhouse. She holds the audience captive and allows us to explore humanity and a vital line to understanding the film’s core: the love between a mother and daughter. She is intelligent, unyielding, and manages to out game everyone around her through subtleties instead of eccentricities.

Opposite Kang is Ryu Kyung-soo, the director of Kronoid’s combat AI program, Sang-hoon. Brash and explosive, his uncontrolled emotions offer a balance to Seo-hyun’s client’s grief. He offers a performance that packs a punch where it needs to before, also bringing sadness to the surface too.

JUNG_E — But Why Tho (1)

Unfortunately, the performances, while strong, are made small by how large director Yeon builds his world. There are so many corners to turn and paths to explore that ultimately there are so many unanswered questions. Why did the war start? Why did it end? What is happening to the people who have sold their brains and whole identities to Kronoid? I want to see so much more than what this film gave me.

While this is a testament to Yeon’s ability to world-build, it also showcases a blindspot in only reigning the high concepts enough to capture emotion but not enough to keep the focus on his characters. While he was masterful at this in Train to Busan, his sequel to that film, Peninsula, showcased this same issue. That said, the groundwork has been set for sequels to this work that I would gladly welcome, given the vastness of the world shown here.

While director Yeon is clearly playing with expectations from the genre,  the choice to zoom in on one person, her grief, and her struggle in the larger capitalist dystopia feel incomplete. Instead of any large moves that take down the whole system, Seo-hyun is focused on saving her mother’s legacy and one issue. And as much as that feels small, maybe that’s the entire point of the film. To see the crushing capitalist system that aims to consume and reproduce a great woman and her memory and its impact on the only person who will care, her daughter.

JUNG_E has faults, but the world that Yeon Sang-ho has built and the performances from Kang Soo-yeon and Ryu Kyung-soo are deniably great. Ultimately, the intelligent handling of grief and fantastic action set pieces and choreography make JUNG_E a definite watch this weekend on Netflix.

JUNG_E is streaming now exclusively on Netflix.

JUNG_E
  • 7.5/10
    Rating - 7.5/10
7.5/10

TL;DR

JUNG_E has faults, but the world that Yeon Sang-ho has built and the performances from Kang Soo-yeon and Ryu Kyung-soo are deniably great. Ultimately, the intelligent handling of grief and fantastic action set pieces and choreography make JUNG_E a definite watch this weekend on Netflix.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleREVIEW: ‘Shotgun Wedding’ Is Here To Entertain
Next Article REVIEW: Eyes Glued To ‘All Eyes Off Me’
Kate Sánchez
  • Website
  • X (Twitter)
  • Instagram

Kate Sánchez is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of But Why Tho? A Geek Community. There, she coordinates film, television, anime, and manga coverage. Kate is also a freelance journalist writing features on video games, anime, and film. Her focus as a critic is championing animation and international films and television series for inclusion in awards cycles. Find her on Bluesky @ohmymithrandir.bsky.social

Related Posts

Simon in An Honest Life But Why Tho
3.5

REVIEW: ‘An Honest Life’ Is Terribly Dishonest About Its Own Politics

08/02/2025
Brandon Routh and co in Ick
9.0

REVIEW: ‘Ick’ Is A Near Perfect Horror-Comedy

07/29/2025
Bad Bunny and Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore 2
5.0

REVIEW: ‘Happy Gilmore 2’ Earns More Shrugs Than Laughs

07/29/2025
Hi-Five
6.5

FANTASIA 2025: ‘Hi-Five’ Introduces A Scrappy, Superpowered Team Up

07/28/2025
Still from Haunted Mountains The Yellow Taboo
5.5

FANTASIA 2025: ‘Haunted Mountains: The Yellow Taboo’ Gets A Little Lost In The Weeds

07/26/2025
Dakota Gorman in HELLCAT
6.5

FANTASIA 2025: ‘HELLCAT’ Runs High In Tension But Loses Steam

07/25/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Wildgate promotional key art
9.0
PC

REVIEW: ‘Wildgate’ Is Co-Op Space Mayhem Done Right

By Adrian Ruiz07/25/2025Updated:07/30/2025

Built for friends and tuned for competition, Wildgate is messy in the best way: smart, surprising, and bursting with room to grow.

Glass Heart
7.0
TV

REVIEW: ‘Glass Heart’ Offers Messy, Musical Catharsis

By Allyson Johnson07/22/2025

The musical drama series ‘Glass Heart’ soars when it focuses on the epic performances of it’s fictional band, TENBLANK.

Simon in An Honest Life But Why Tho
3.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘An Honest Life’ Is Terribly Dishonest About Its Own Politics

By Jason Flatt08/02/2025

An Honest Life is an overly severe misfire about a law student who falls in with anarchist burglars that can’t decide who it resents more.

Black Women Anime — But Why Tho (9) BWT Recommends

10 Black Women in Anime That Made Me Feel Seen

By LaNeysha Campbell11/11/2023Updated:12/03/2024

Black women are some of anime’s most iconic characters, and that has a big impact on Black anime fans. Here are some of our favorites.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here