Lady Vengeance

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Lady Vengeance

R

2005

1h 54m

Mystery & Thriller

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

76%

Tomatometer

87 Reviews

87%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

Lee Geum-ja (Lee Young-ae) has spent the last 13 years in prison for a murder she didn't commit. She's fantasized about getting revenge on the various people who wronged her, including the police officer (Nam Il-u) who forced her to confess and a shady teacher (Choi Min-sik) with whom she has a checkered past. After her release, she teams up with a group of eccentric friends she made while behind bars and sets out to clear her name and find the daughter she was forced to leave behind.

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Critics Consensus

Stylistically flashy and gruesomely violent, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance fits in nicely with the other two films of Park's revenge trilogy.

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Alyx Vesey

Bitch Media

[Sympathy for Lady Vengeance] far surpasses Oldboy in its ability to dazzle and unnerve.

Jan 5, 2021

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Brian Tallerico

UGO

What most will take from Lady Vengeance is a director in love with film and the ability to express that passion through the language of his medium.

Mar 24, 2007

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Bob Longino

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

... as brutal as it is beautiful.

Rated: B+

Aug 6, 2006

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Howard Feinstein

The Advocate

Lady Vengeance is an electrifying South Korean thriller with a strong female protagonist, a bold color palette, and a healthy dose of dark humor.

May 24, 2022

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Panos Kotzathanasis

Asian Movie Pulse

Park Chan-wook focused on a female character and created a unique amalgam of black humor, blasphemous irony, extreme violence, which at times, is turned on children, and liberating humanism, chiefly depicted in the final sequence of collective revenge

Apr 6, 2019

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Nick Rogers

Midwest Film Journal

As a man is made to mediate the terms of his own murder, Park Chan-wook offers a perfect resolution to his "Vengeance" trilogy: an acutely agonizing elegy for whatever shred of humanity is left after the impulse for vengeance has worked itself out.

Rated: 3.5/4

Sep 17, 2010

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Julian

It’s a five star production and Lee Young Ae was amazing in it. However the daughter subplot really drags the film down, to a screeching halt. The film could have dropped that subplot and the young lover plot and added more of Mr. Baek or more of the plan and the film could have been better. Folks have to realize it’s not Old Boy 2.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/28/25

Full Review

thiago s

Filme mais ou menos, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são mais ou menos, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, a história é fraca, os personagens sao fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes para fazer o filme ser bom.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

05/08/25

Full Review

Audience Member

A really sad but great movie. Loved it...

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/28/25

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Akatsuki M

One of the best movies I ever seen. The main actress is incredible.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/09/25

Full Review

Ed F

Totally lame. I understood the basic plot but the second and third acts were less than believable IMO. Maybe I lost something in the translation but compared to Train to Busan for example, this was VERY disappointing.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/22/25

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Tim R

My favorite of the Vengeance Trilogy. Does getting revenge, as deserved as it may be, fill the void or give solace to the one who was wronged? Is being a good person and living a good life the best revenge? Well acted, written and directed! Some scenes aren't easy to watch but it's a worthy film to see. In fact, watch it more than once to enjoy the excellent storytelling/filmmaking.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/29/24

Full Review

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Park Chan-wook

Director

Lee Young-ae

Lee Geum-ja

Choi Min-sik

Mr. Baek

Nam Il-u

Det. Choi

Kim Byeong-ok

Preacher Jeon

Kim Bu-seon

Woo So-yeong

Cherish

51%

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Synopsis

Lee Geum-ja (Lee Young-ae) has spent the last 13 years in prison for a murder she didn't commit. She's fantasized about getting revenge on the various people who wronged her, including the police officer (Nam Il-u) who forced her to confess and a shady teacher (Choi Min-sik) with whom she has a checkered past. After her release, she teams up with a group of eccentric friends she made while behind bars and sets out to clear her name and find the daughter she was forced to leave behind.

Director: Park Chan-wook
Producer: Lee Tae-heon, Jo Yeonguk
Screenwriter: Park Chan-wook, Jeong Seo-kyeong
Production Co: Moho Film
Rating: R (Some Sexuality|Some Involving Children|Strong Violent Content)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Comedy, Drama
Original Language: Korean
Rerelease Date (Theaters): May 5, 2006
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 6, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA): $211.7K
Runtime: 1h 54m