Mother-daughter revenge tale takes bizarre turns in 'The Journey to Gyeongju'

One mother. Three sisters. On the road, with a man tied in a sack in the back of the trunk. In the black comedy film "The Journey to Gyeongju," actors Lee Jung-eun,  Kong Hyo-jin, Park So-dam and Lee Yeon travel to Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, in pursuit of revenge — and, perhaps, reconciliation.

Lee Jung-eun reunites with Park after playing enemies in Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning “Parasite” (2019), and rekindles her mother-daughter chemistry with Kong from the romance drama “When the Camellia Blooms” (2019).

Lee received the script and "liked it so much" that she immediately agreed to play the role of Ok-sil, and waited for a year for her on-screen daughters to join the project, according to the actor at a press conference in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, on Monday.

Kong, for instance, initially turned down the film because its production schedule overlapped with another project. 

“But even after passing on it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I asked my agency several times who had been cast, and when the schedule was pushed back, I was able to join the project after all," Kong said.

Kong plays the eldest daughter, whom the actor described as “her mother’s right-hand woman and the family’s command center.”

“She feels the deepest sympathy for her mother’s grief over losing a child and tries to do everything her mother wants,” Kong said.

Park plays the second daughter, an analytical and meticulous law school graduate, while Lee Yeon portrays the impulsive third daughter, who tends to act before she thinks.

“Mothers and daughters often seem to regard each other as extensions of themselves,” director Kim Mi-joo said. “My impression was that a mother also shows a different side of herself to each daughter — almost as if she has as many faces as she has daughters.”

“The director and I were thrilled that all of our first-choice actors joined the project,” said Lee Jung-eun, who starred in “My Daughter Is a Zombie” (2025) and Netflix’s “Daily Dose of Sunshine” (2023).

"The Journey to Gyeongju" follows Ok-sil and her three daughters who look to avenge the death of the youngest daughter who was murdered eight years prior while on a class trip to Gyeongju. 

Gyeongju, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Silla (57 B.C.–A.D. 935), serves as both the backdrop to the film and as the name of Ok-sil's youngest daughter. The historic city is a popular destination for tourists and school trips for its relics, including gold crowns, towering royal tombs and ancient buildings — which, according to the director, also provides a certain uncanniness.

“Gyeongju […] has a very different atmosphere during the day and at night,” director Kim said. “When it rains, it can feel eerie and desolate. I thought that duality could capture the contradiction of a family embarking on a journey that involves murder.”

“The [Korean] title, gihaeng, also carries two meanings: a journey and strange behavior," Kim added. "Ultimately, this is a story about a fierce, all-consuming love. I believe it will resonate with anyone who has someone they love.”

The director, whose debut feature, “Gull” (2021), also starring Lee Jung-eun, won the Grand Prize at the 21st Jeonju International Film Festival, said she drew inspiration for the screenplay from her own experience as the youngest of four daughters.

"The Journey to Gyeongju" is set to release domestically on Aug. 26, following its global premiere at the 45th Hawaii International Film Festival in 2025. The movie won the Audience Award at the 24th Florence Korea Film Fest in Italy in March.

Nicholas Archambault, director of Asian programming at the Fantasia International Film Festival, called the film, which was invited to this year’s edition, one of his “favorites in this year’s lineup,” praising its “wide emotional range, oscillating between laughter, fear and touching moments,” as well as the performances, direction and screenplay.

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]