The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion
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.
Despite its limited budget of $5.5M, The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion became a solid performer, earning $24.3M worldwide—a 343% return. The film's fresh perspective connected with viewers, illustrating how strong storytelling can transcend budget limitations.
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion (2018) exemplifies carefully calibrated dramatic framework, characteristic of Park Hoon-jung's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 14-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 2 hours and 5 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 6.7, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 2 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Ten years after her escape, Ja-yoon lives peacefully on a rural farm with her adoptive parents, suffering amnesia about her violent origins. She appears as an ordinary, caring daughter in a quiet countryside setting.. Significantly, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 15 minutes when Ja-yoon decides to enter a televised talent competition to win money for her family. Her appearance on national TV inadvertently broadcasts her location and face to the secret organization that created her, setting the entire plot in motion.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 30 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 24% of the runtime. This shows the protagonist's commitment to Nobleman and Lady's operatives make direct contact with Ja-yoon, revealing they know about her past. She can no longer pretend to be an ordinary girl. Ja-yoon actively chooses to confront these mysterious figures rather than flee, crossing into a world of superhuman conflict., moving from reaction to action.
At 65 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 52% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Of particular interest, this crucial beat All factions converge on Ja-yoon's rural home simultaneously. Lady's team, Nobleman, and Dr. Baek arrive to capture or eliminate her. The sanctuary of her peaceful life is shattered as the violence she escaped finds her. Her adoptive parents are now in immediate, inescapable danger. False defeat: she seems trapped and outmatched., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 95 minutes (76% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Ja-yoon's adoptive parents are killed by the operatives. The only family she remembers, the anchors to her humanity and normal life, die in front of her. This literal death moment destroys everything she was fighting to protect and represents the death of her innocent identity., illustrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Synthesis at 100 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 80% of the runtime. Ja-yoon systematically annihilates everyone involved in the attack. She uses telekinesis to brutally execute Mr. Choi's team, kills Lady, and battles Nobleman in a superhuman showdown. The finale demonstrates her complete superiority and transformation from victim to unstoppable force, resolving the immediate threat while revealing her true power., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 14 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs a 15-point narrative structure framework that maps key story moments. By mapping The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion against these established plot points, we can identify how Park Hoon-jung utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion within the action genre.
Park Hoon-jung's Structural Approach
Among the 3 Park Hoon-jung films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 7.0, demonstrating varied approaches to story architecture. The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion takes a more unconventional approach compared to the director's typical style. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Park Hoon-jung filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional action films include The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, The Bad Guys and Lake Placid. For more Park Hoon-jung analyses, see The Witch: Part 2. The Other One, The Tiger.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Ten years after her escape, Ja-yoon lives peacefully on a rural farm with her adoptive parents, suffering amnesia about her violent origins. She appears as an ordinary, caring daughter in a quiet countryside setting.
Theme
Ja-yoon's adoptive mother expresses concern about her headaches and suppressed memories, saying "Some things are better left forgotten." This establishes the thematic tension between comfortable ignorance and dangerous truth.
Worldbuilding
Ja-yoon's ordinary life is established: financial struggles due to her father's medical bills, her close relationship with adoptive parents, mysterious headaches hinting at suppressed memories, and the rural farming community setting. The prologue massacre at the facility provides context for her hidden past.
Disruption
Ja-yoon decides to enter a televised talent competition to win money for her family. Her appearance on national TV inadvertently broadcasts her location and face to the secret organization that created her, setting the entire plot in motion.
Resistance
Strange figures begin appearing around Ja-yoon after her TV appearance. She experiences increasingly severe headaches and fragmented memories. Her adoptive parents notice her distress but don't understand the danger approaching. Ja-yoon hesitates between investigating her past and maintaining her peaceful life.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Nobleman and Lady's operatives make direct contact with Ja-yoon, revealing they know about her past. She can no longer pretend to be an ordinary girl. Ja-yoon actively chooses to confront these mysterious figures rather than flee, crossing into a world of superhuman conflict.
Mirror World
Nobleman appears, revealing himself as another product of the facility's experiments. He serves as a dark mirror to Ja-yoon, showing what she was designed to become: a cold, powerful weapon without humanity. His relationship with Ja-yoon embodies the theme of chosen identity versus programmed nature.
Premise
The promise of the premise unfolds: superhuman cat-and-mouse games between Ja-yoon and her pursuers. Demonstrations of telekinetic powers, tactical confrontations, and revelations about the facility's experiments. Ja-yoon discovers the extent of her abilities while protecting her family and investigating her origins.
Midpoint
All factions converge on Ja-yoon's rural home simultaneously. Lady's team, Nobleman, and Dr. Baek arrive to capture or eliminate her. The sanctuary of her peaceful life is shattered as the violence she escaped finds her. Her adoptive parents are now in immediate, inescapable danger. False defeat: she seems trapped and outmatched.
Opposition
The operatives tighten their grip. Ja-yoon's fragmentary powers prove insufficient against trained superhuman assassins. Mr. Choi and his team methodically hunt her. Her adoptive parents are captured and used as leverage. Ja-yoon's attempts to protect them while controlling her unstable abilities lead to escalating violence and desperation.
Collapse
Ja-yoon's adoptive parents are killed by the operatives. The only family she remembers, the anchors to her humanity and normal life, die in front of her. This literal death moment destroys everything she was fighting to protect and represents the death of her innocent identity.
Crisis
In the immediate aftermath of her parents' murder, Ja-yoon experiences complete psychological devastation. She kneels beside their bodies, processing the loss of everything human in her life. The darkness of this moment strips away her last connection to normalcy, leaving only the weapon she was designed to be.
Act III
ResolutionSynthesis
Ja-yoon systematically annihilates everyone involved in the attack. She uses telekinesis to brutally execute Mr. Choi's team, kills Lady, and battles Nobleman in a superhuman showdown. The finale demonstrates her complete superiority and transformation from victim to unstoppable force, resolving the immediate threat while revealing her true power.
Transformation
Ja-yoon walks away from the carnage, no longer the innocent farm girl from the opening but a fully realized superhuman weapon with agency. She encounters another mysterious figure from her past, suggesting her journey continues. The transformation is complete: from amnesiac victim to self-aware, dangerous force charting her own path.