"Beautiful" premiered at the Panorama section of the 58th Berlin International Film Festival, and won the Grand Prix at the 2008 Fukuoka Asian Film Festival. Kim, who produced the film, said "it was good." "Beautiful" displayed artistic sensibilities and thematic trappings that are automatically identified with Kim, such as explicit expressions of fascination and loathing with the human body, and an examination of ethics and morality through violence. Local critics gave Juhn the nickname "Little Kim Ki-duk" or "Kim Ki-duk Two," but he said the comparisons to his mentor didn't bother him, since he was "still young and have much to learn."