‘Train to Busan’ Director Yeon Sang-ho Teams With Alfonso Cuarón for Netflix Thriller ‘Revelations’ (Exclusive)

Yeon Sang-ho and Alfonso Cuarón.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images; Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

Korean multi-talent Yeon Sang-ho is getting back in business with Netflix for his next feature film — with a little help from Oscar-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón.

Yeon has signed to direct a movie adaptation of his own popular Korean webtoon, Revelations, with Cuarón onboard to executive produce and consult on the project. 

Yeon first became a familiar name to international film buffs in 2016 with his breakthrough zombie blockbuster Train to Busan. He’s since directed three projects for Netflix, the sci-fi feature Jung_E and the hit high-concept series Hellbound and Parasyte: The Grey. A second season of Hellbound is currently in the works. 

Netflix declined to provide additional info on how Cuarón came to be involved in Revelations the movie, but Yeon shared his excitement over the partnership. 

“Alfonso Cuarón, known for masterpieces like Children of Men and Gravity, has greatly influenced my work as a director,” he said. “I am thrilled at this opportunity to collaborate with him on shaping Revelations, and I have high expectations for our partnership.”

Cuarón’s next project as a director — his first since the Oscar-nominated Roma for Netflix — is Disclaimer, a big-budget psychological thriller miniseries starring Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline, backed by Apple TV+.  

Revelations reunites Yeon with screenwriter Choi Gyu-seok, who scripted Hellbound and collaborates with the director on his webcomics. 

The film’s story centers on a missing persons case and follows a pastor and a detective, each driven by their own beliefs. Korean star Ryu Jun-yeol (The 8 Show, The King, Alienoid) portrays Min-chan, the pastor of a small church in a provincial town. When a man named Yang-rae visits his church, Min-chan receives a divine revelation identifying him as the culprit who abducted his son, and he sets forth to pursue justice. Alternating between sincere faith and cruel reality, Min-chan becomes consumed by his quest for retribution. Popular actress Shin Hyun-been (Hospital Playlist, Reborn Rich) plays detective Yeon-hee, who is on the trail of Yang-rae, a suspect in the missing-person case — as well as the suspicious pastor Min-chan. Yeon-hee is constantly haunted by visions of her sister, who died due to a heinous crime.

The film is produced by Wow Point, a global production company that makes original content in Korea, Japan and the U.S. Recent projects include the Netflix series The Bequeathed, a Korean mystery thriller, and Parasyte: The Grey, which is an adaptation of the legendary Japanese manga Parasyte.

“With two globally renowned creators coming together, we sincerely hope that Revelations will thrill audiences worldwide,” Wow Point says. 

Netflix has a massive slate of Korean content in store for the latter half of 2024 and beyond, including the wildly anticipated second season of Squid Game. Other K-content titles on the way are Officer Black Belt (coming in 2024) from Midnight Runners and Bloodhounds director Jason Kim and starring Kim Woo-bin (Black Knight) as a talented martial artist who monitors crime; Uprising (coming in 2024), produced and co-written by Park Chan-wook, a film set in the Joseon era about two childhood friends turned adversaries; The Great Flood (coming in 2024), a sci-fi disaster film that follows the desperate fight to save a child after a great flood has swept the planet, starring Kim Da-mi (Itaewon Class) and Park Hae-soo (Squid Game, Narco-Saints); and Lost in Starlight (coming in 2025), Netflix’s first Korean-language animated film about the love story between astronaut Nan-young and musician Jay, who embark on the longest-ever long-distance relationship — one that bridges Earth and Mars.