Se-Young (The Wicked)

Se-Young (Park Ju-hui) is a villainess from the 2014 movie The Wicked aka Ma-nyeo. She is the new office employee, introverted and shy who the other employees and her manager take an instant dislike to. Her weird personality and awkward nature doesn’t help in the slightest, and whilst Lee-Sun (Na Soo-yoon) underhandedly picks on Se-Young, the manager herself and other employees of the office find themselves under threat from the newcomers’ wicked intentions. The film runs an even worse gauntlet after Se-Young is rejected by a suitor in the office, and she terrorizes him relentlessly.
The light-hearted opening tone of the movie quickly turns into a grim, darker pace as Se-Young attempts to cut one of her managers’ fingers off after beating her in a bet. Whilst the first 20 minutes show the office employees making painful and wincing jokes about and at Se-Young’s expense, the tables are quickly turned as the bully grows ever bolder, revealing private details about her manager Lee-Sun’s boyfriend and mercilessly threatening others around the office. Ghosts from Se-Young’s past believe she is a witch, or a horrid stalker, and Se-Young finally cracks under the tension and reproaches of the staff around her.
The original Korean title translates as The Witch, which makes more sense given how the film strongly implies that Se-Young is a malevolent evil force threatening those around her, with special powers and a love of torture. The suggestions as well that her evil behavior relates directly to family problems is more of a spoiler than I’m tempted to discuss, and the finale itself is a climax worthy of M Night Shyamalan, whilst still feeling a little too ‘familiar’ of modern horror twists, but the rest of the film is fresh and allows a familiar ending room to breath and be acceptable.
Category:2010s
Category:Brunette
Category:Live Action Villainess
Category:Murderer
Category:Mutilator
Category:Psychotic
Category:Sibling
Category:Torturer
Category:Vengeful