"Sweet and salty, a dramatic emotional roller coaster" — laughing, then tearing up, and finally turning solemn... Gong Hyo-jin, Lee Jung-eun, and Park So-dam's 'The Journey to Gyeongju'

[Financial News] "It has that sweet-and-salty feel, a dramatic emotional roller coaster. Is it supposed to make us laugh or cry? That’s part of its charm." (Gong Hyo-jin)
"Every time I turned a page, I felt anticipation, heartache, and even had to catch my breath. Whether the plan succeeded or failed, I just wanted the family on this journey to be okay." (Park So-dam)
A strange family revenge drama has been born. Set against the backdrop of Gyeongju, the ancient capital of a thousand years, it follows a family trip taken to avenge the death of their youngest daughter and youngest sibling, Gyeongju, who returned from a school trip as a cold corpse. That is the film 'The Journey to Gyeongju.'■ Crying while reading the script... "I just wanted this family to be okay"Centered on Lee Jung-eun as the mother Oksil, the cast brings together Gong Hyo-jin, who played mother and daughter with her in the drama 'When the Camellia Blooms,' Park So-dam, who teamed up with her in 'Parasite,' and Lee Yeon, whose profile has recently risen through the drama 'Perfect Crown,' as the three daughters Jangju, Youngju, and Dongju. Adding further tension is Byun Yo-han, who takes on the role of the killer in a surprisingly substantial part despite reportedly appearing without a fee.
The film begins with shock, anger, and grief, then moves freely between thriller, black comedy, family psychological drama, and farce. Viewers may laugh at their clumsy revenge, only to be struck again by the pain of parents who lost a daughter and the feelings of the three daughters who must watch their mother make a choice.
Ahead of the film's release on the 26th, Gong Hyo-jin said during a meeting at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, "There are scenes that are impossible to watch without tears, but even in desperate moments, laughter comes out." When she first read the script, sadness hit her first. In particular, she said the past scene in which Gyeongju's identity is confirmed stayed with her for a long time.
Park So-dam, who plays the second daughter and carefully plans the family scheme, also cried while reading the script and hoped that the four women would make it through safely. "We feel sorry for Dad and Gyeongju, but we would have been constantly anxious about whether our choice was really right," Park said. "At the same time, we take photos pretending to be a happy family for the alibi, and I think part of us also hoped this journey would remain a real family trip."
Director Kim Mi-Jo had Lee Jung-eun in mind from the moment she began writing the script. When asked why she was cast, Lee joked, "Maybe because I have a face like my mother and the kind of body people usually imagine when they think of a mother." She added, "I think she wanted to show how someone with an ordinary face has lived with a single goal and how that person might change."
Lee Jung-eun has generally made relatively conservative choices, guided by the standard of whether a work would be "easy for my mother to watch." But meeting Oksil changed her mind. "As I get older, I feel that audiences also gain the ability to choose and accept works more selectively," she said. "I also wanted to step outside my own moral framework and try something new."■ "Passion at maximum level"... the determination behind Kim Mi-Jo that won over the actorsAnother star of 'The Journey to Gyeongju' is Kim Mi-Jo, a director in her 30s. After winning the Grand Prize in the Korean Competition at the Jeonju International Film Festival and a special mention at the San Sebastian International Film Festival with her feature debut 'Gull,' she took on her first commercial film with 'The Journey to Gyeongju.'
Gong Hyo-jin described Kim as "a very smart person full of charisma, strength, and passion." Referring in particular to director Lee Kyoung-mi of 'Crush and Blush,' she said the two directors are "especially distinctive and unique" and emphasized that "what comes next is even more exciting."
Lee Jung-eun recalled the moment she first discussed Oksil with Kim. "She kept saying, 'Oksil has a fire inside her. There is fire, senior,' and I felt like the director herself was Oksil," she said. "The director's boiling passion was as urgent and intense as Oksil's heat. Because of that determination, this film finally made it to release." She added, "Even when we were resting, the director kept burning with ideas for the scenes she would shoot the next day. When she is not making films, she writes novels, so she must have so many stories she wants to tell. I am really looking forward to what she does next."
In the latter part of the film, the chaotic commotion settles, and Oksil's lonely time unfolds. Lee Jung-eun recalled, "Once all the daughters' scenes were over and I climbed the mountain alone, I felt a strange stillness, as if I were thinking, 'Did we run all this way just to end up here?'"
The four women's plan cannot be explained by the simple measure of success or failure. Revenge does not bring the dead daughter back, and the broken family's time does not return to the past. Even so, they stay together, each carrying the wounds buried in their hearts. That is why Kim Mi-Jo described the film as "a family film wrapped in the shell of a revenge drama, and a work filled with fierce love."

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