Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
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.
The Witch: Part 1 is a South Korean genre hybrid that blends high school drama with brutal action and sci-fi conspiracy. Choi Woo-shik delivers a memorably unhinged supporting performance, and Kim Da-mi is magnetic in the lead. The cinematography is sleek and stylish, with the action sequences shot with real flair and impact. However, the plot leans heavily on familiar amnesiac-secret-experiment tropes and takes a long time to fully reveal its hand, feeling sluggish in the second act. The ending functions more as a franchise table-setter than a satisfying conclusion in its own right, leaving too many threads deliberately dangling. Novelty is moderate — it's a competent and entertaining genre mashup but not a wholly singular vision.