Lady Vengeance

Lady Vengeance is the final film in Park Chan-wook’s Vengeance Trilogy, and for me, it’s his most emotional and thoughtful one. It follows Lee Geum-ja, a woman who spent thirteen years in prison for kidnapping and killing a young boy. Inside, she became known as the kind-hearted inmate, helping others and earning their loyalty. But behind that calm face, she was quietly planning revenge against the man who framed her, a cruel teacher named Mr. Baek.

When Geum-ja is released, she looks peaceful and polite. But every move is part of a plan she’s been building for years. She reconnects with former inmates, calls in favors, and prepares for what’s coming. As the truth unfolds, we learn Mr. Baek didn’t just kill one child. He killed several. What starts as one woman’s revenge becomes something much bigger. A reckoning shared by all the victims’ families.

Park Chan-wook uses this story to question what revenge really does to people. The scene where the parents confront Mr. Baek is both powerful and painful. Each one reacts differently with anger, fear, or tears, but they all take their turn facing the man who destroyed their lives.

These moments are hard to forget because they feel so real. Park shows that revenge might bring relief for a second, but it leaves behind emptiness and guilt. By the end, Geum-ja isn’t satisfied. She’s in tears, realizing that peace doesn’t come from blood.

Visually, the film is stunning. Park starts with bright, colorful scenes and slowly drains the color as the story gets darker. By the middle, much of it looks almost black and white. This mirrors Geum-ja’s loss of hope and the weight of her choices.

The music, framing, and dreamlike visuals make it beautiful and haunting at the same time. Lee Young-ae is remarkable as Geum-ja. She’s calm, cold, kind, and furious all at once. Her quiet strength and porcelain face hide deep pain, and she carries the whole film.

Compared to Oldboy or Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, this one is less violent and more reflective. It focuses on emotional suffering and moral weight instead of action. Park also explores how a woman’s revenge is different from a man’s. More patient, more planned, quietly devastating. There’s even dark humor mixed in, especially in the prison scenes where Geum-ja helps inmates in clever and sometimes shocking ways.

By the end, Lady Vengeance feels less like a story of punishment and more like broken redemption. I felt sadness, not triumph. It’s about how far someone can go for justice, and how that journey can destroy the very peace they’re seeking. For me, it’s one of Park Chan-wook’s most human stories. Dark, stylish, and full of heartache. It reminds you that revenge may settle a score, but it never heals a wound.