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The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion
Movie

The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion

2018 • Unknown

Woke Score
2
out of 10

Plot

Ja-yoon is a high school student who struggles with memory loss after she endured some unknown trauma during her childhood. While trying to uncover the truth, she is unwittingly dragged into a world of crime and finds herself on a journey that will awaken many secrets hidden deep within.

Overall Series Review

The film centers on Ja-yoon, a super-powered girl with amnesia, who is hunted by the secretive organization that created her. The first half is a quiet character study of her life with her adoptive parents and best friend in the countryside, driven by the protagonist's desire to help her sick mother. The second half explodes into intense, hyper-violent sci-fi action as Ja-yoon's true abilities and intentions are revealed in a major plot twist. The narrative's core strength lies in its relentless pacing and the lead character's journey from meek high school student to hyper-competent, ruthless combatant. The plot is strictly concerned with a corporate-military-science conspiracy and the question of transhumanist experimentation, not broader societal or political commentary.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics1/10

The story takes place in South Korea and the cast is ethnically homogeneous, consistent with the setting. Conflict is entirely based on an action-thriller trope of a secret government/corporate experiment and the super-powered children it created. Characters are judged solely by their abilities and loyalty, not by race or other immutable characteristics.

Oikophobia1/10

The movie does not criticize or disparage South Korean culture or history. The 'home' of the protagonist is a loving, traditional farming family in the Korean countryside, which is represented as a pure and wholesome life that the protagonist is fighting to protect. The antagonists are a shadowy, immoral scientific-military complex, not a critique of the nation's core values.

Feminism7/10

The protagonist, Ja-yoon, is revealed to be a hyper-competent, near-perfect mastermind who has been feigning innocence for years, making her a clear 'Girl Boss' archetype. She demonstrates instant, overwhelming superiority over nearly all characters, both male and female, in combat and intelligence. Her primary motivation is a strong, protective love for her adoptive mother, which counterbalances the typical anti-natalist or anti-family message.

LGBTQ+1/10

The narrative makes no reference to alternative sexualities, gender identity, or queer theory. The central character relationships are a close female friendship and the protagonist's adoptive male and female parents. The focus remains strictly on the sci-fi action plot and the protagonist's survival and quest for a cure.

Anti-Theism2/10

The film operates within a completely secular, science-fiction framework where the conflict is between super-soldiers and their creators. Morality is largely subjective, centered on Ja-yoon's personal will to survive and protect her family, which serves as a moral compass outside of any transcendent or religious structure. There is no open hostility or criticism directed toward religious faith or institutions.