Jung So-min has a personal flair that I think remains the same to date, making her the fine Korean actor that she is. She knows just what to deliver, to what degree, and where to pull out. She can be—as maudlin as daring—as grave as amusing—and everything but invariably beautiful—well-suited to the roles she’s been offered so far.
I find her performances very appealing—how she plays off expressions on her face, how she goes deep into the hearts of her characters and calls upon something—an essence that thrives in the viewer’s eye. Jung So-min is a vehicle galvanizing the story she appears in, as seen in the films listed below.
Twenty (2015) – Lee Byeong-heon
This coming-of-age comedy blends fun, camaraderie, nostalgia, and insights centered on three friends quite different from each other: Chi-ho (Kim Woo-bin), Dong-woo (Lee Jun-ho), and Kyung-jae (Kang Ha-neul), freshmen graduates who are now twenty.
Jung plays So-min, the center of attraction for them in their senior year who seek to woo her, but she eventually falls for Kyung-jae. It’s a welcome trip down memory lane that reminds us of the times we had, albeit in different contexts, from childhood to adulthood and the demanding world beyond the classroom.
Twenty is about lessons we’ve learned, moments of poignancy and hilarity interwoven with romance, friendship, and bromance.
Alice: Boy from Wonderland (2015) – Huh Eun-hee
While this one may not be to everyone’s taste, I’d still suggest it to Korean movie buffs like myself. In short, it’s about Hye-joong (Jung) battling creepy nightmares and memory loss. She visits Wonderland, a quiet resort, following a shaman’s advice for a remedy. There she sees a white rabbit, alongside Hwan (Hong Jong-hyun) and Soo-ryun (Jung Yeon-joo), and must look for something to get rid of her plight.
With surrealistic and twisted happenings, the movie is initially hard to comprehend, but given a psychological thriller, it makes sense why you get puzzled. Gradually, though, things become simpler. And sure, there are moments of love thrown in.
Alice: Boy from Wonderland has polarizing views and reviews, but let me say it again: if you have a thing for Korean cinema and are interested in something different, this might be a fun enough film.
Daddy You, Daughter Me (2017) – Kim Hyeong-hyeop
A father and daughter at odds with each other—Won Sang-tae (Yoon Je-moon), a corporate employee, and Won Do-yeon (Jung), a high school student—are at the core of this Korean film adaptation of Takahisa Igarashi’s Japanese novel Papa to Musume no Nanokakan. Their strained relationship suffers a setback when a mystical mishap results in a soul swap between them, and things get fixed.
Worried that she isn’t serious, the father keeps urging her to work harder. On the contrary, she feels it’s relatively easy for him as a salaried man. Thought processes progressively change after they switch souls and traverse each other’s lives confined in each other’s bodies.
The narrative looks at the differences between generations and the problems that each character faces, underpinning how every setting has its challenges, whether it’s the workplace or the classroom.
Homme Fatale (2019) – Nam Dae-joong
The first male courtesan in Joseon, Heo Saek (Lee Joon-ho), is a handsome dreamy man; a killer personality and good looks make him immensely desirable. Thus, winning a woman is never a task for him. Hae Won (Jung), meanwhile, is too beautiful to ignore. However, her explosive intellect and modern views push men away from her.
Heo Saek catches on to her, but she doesn’t reciprocate, and he won’t rest until he courts her. Hae Won is a strong, independent woman searching for true love during a time when women were disadvantaged and marginalized.
A gripping tale of historical romance, Homme Fatale is also heartbreaking. I like how it emphasizes family bonds and exposes society’s sexist attitudes towards women and the polygamous relationships men engage in.
Project Wolf Hunting (2022) – Kim Hong-seon
A deadly fight breaks out between a group of vicious criminals being taken to Korea on a cargo ship and the police trying to apprehend them when they attempt an escape. The film’s stellar cast includes Seo In-guk as criminal Park Jong-du, Jang Dong-yoon as criminal Do-il, and Jung So-min as Lee Da-yeon, a feisty detective.
The horrific killings expose a superhuman, whose origins lie in a disturbing past and heinous experimenting.
Project Wolf Hunting combines bloodshed, butchery, tension, action, and provocative instances. It’s very aggressive, highly threatening, filthy, and dark but an unforgettable cinematic experience.
Love Reset (2023) – Nam Dae-jung
Love Reset (30 Days)—one of our 10 best Korean films of 2023—is about a married couple falling in and out of love until something unforeseen impacts their situation.
Lawyer No Jeong-yeol (Kang Ha-neul) and movie producer Hong Na-ra (Jung) marry against their family’s wishes. Still, subsequent misunderstandings, differences, and egos repeatedly clash to the point of deciding to part ways. They get 30 days from the court to resolve issues, failing which the divorce would be processed. Jeong-yeol and Na-ra become amnesic in the interim in an accident, and while recuperating in the hospital, they return to love each other.
