Uprising (Netflix)

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Movie: Uprising (English title) / War, Revolt (literal title)
Revised romanization: Jeon, Ran
Hangul: 전,란
Director: Kim Sang-Man
Writer: Shin Cheol, Park Chan-Wook
Producer: Park Chan-Wook
Cinematographer:
World Premiere: October 2, 2024 (Busan IFF)
Release Date: October 11, 2024
Runtime:
Distributor: Netflix
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

Set in the late 16th century, Jong-Ryeo (Park Jeong-Min) is the only son of the most powerful military family in Joseon. He grew up with his servant Cheon-Young (Gang Dong-Won) and they were very close. Now, they are all grown up. Cheon-Young retains his low social status, but he has become an excellent swordsman. As a chaotic era ensues with the Japanese invading Joseon, King Seonjo (Cha Seung-Won) abandons his people and flees north. The people of Joseon form the righteous army and fight against the invaders, while they risk their lives. King Seonjo points out these people of the righteous army as traitors. Jong-Ryeo and Cheon-Young meet again as an enemies. Jong-Ryeo is on King Seonjo’s side, but Cheon-Young is on the righteous army's side.

Notes

"Uprising" will have its world premiere as the opening film for the 29th Busan International Film Festival on October 2, 204.

Cast



Gang Dong-Won	Park Jeong-Min	Cha Seung-Won	Kim Shin-Rok	Jin Sun-Kyu
Cheon-Young	Yi Jong-Ryeo	King Seonjo	Beom-Dong	Kim Ja-Ryeong

Jung Sung-Il

Genshin Kikkawa

Royal Palace



Jo Han-Chul	Won Choon-Gyu
Yi Deok-Hyeong	Eunuch Kim

Righteous Army



Jeon Bae-Su	Jeon Jin-Oh	Kang Gil-Woo	Lee Min-Jae
Sam-Mun	fisher	Baek Jung	kiddo

Yi Jong-Ryeo's Group



Hong Seo-Jun	Choi Dae-Hoon	Hwang Boreumbyeol	Lee Yoon-Sang
Yi Geuk-Jo	Gwang-Yi	Yi Jong-Ryeo's wife	Yi Jong-Ryeo (child)

Cheon-Young's Group



Hong Eui-Joon	Jin Jae-Hee
Cheon-Young's dad	Cheon-Young (child)

Additional Cast Members:

Kwon Hyuk - Jeong Yeo-Rip
Yun Woo - Jeong Ok-Nam
Oh Yoon-Hong - Yi Jong-Ryeo's mom
Kim Hyun-Mok - slave son
Jang Nam-Yeol - fisherman dad
Han Sa-Myung - fisherman son
Ahn Seong-Bong - Aoki
Ko Han-Min - Shoichiro
Song Jae-Ryong - villager
Ri Min - Cheongju mayor

Trailers

Comments

Maiko Apr 11 2026 4:00 am Really dislike the spear ahjumma character. I thought she was annoying.

Also: everything that happened at the capital would've been avoided had she not acted like a dumb idiot. Yet she had the gall of telling Cheon-Young "I told you so".

I understand none of them were aware, but as a viewer who did, it got really annoying for me.

wayer Mar 26 2025 7:00 pm great ensemble. loved the sword fighting choreo. admirable theme of noble vs servants / king vs people / invader vs countrymen. and in amidst of these heavy themes, i cannot simply close my eyes on the illusion of bl between cheon young and jong ryeo hehe.. plus general genshin as the third wheeler haha. an okay movie with excellent acting. not the best movie for PJM though.

King Pup 1722 Mar 15 2025 9:40 am At 2 hours of running time (without counting 8 minutes of film credits), Uprising is a raw film that rips open Korea’s polished facade to show the rot festering beneath. Director Kim Sang-man drags us into Joseon’s filthy back alleys, where slaves like Cheon-yeong (Gang Dong-won) are beaten for daring to lift their heads. His childhood bond with Jong-ryeo (Park Jeong-min)—a noble’s son turned royal guard—cracks under the weight of a society that values hierarchy over humanity.

Beneath the bowing and tea rituals lies a deep rot—Joseon’s slave markets never closed, they just rebranded. Rituals like bowing to elders or obeying authority weren’t about respect—they were tools to keep slaves in their place. When Jong-ryeo’s dad betrays Cheon-yeong, it’s not just greed—it’s the system working as designed. The camera shows nobles sipping tea while slaves bleed, making you ask: How much of this “tradition” still poisons modern Korea?

The ugly truth: the same rules that let Joseon’s elites own people fuel today’s schoolyard bullies. Confucianism’s obsession with order and status created a culture where power trumps kindness. In the film, slaves are whipped for “disrespecting” masters; in 2025, kids get bullied for standing out. The link? A twisted belief that keeping your place matters more than fairness.

Uprising doesn’t hold back. Battle scenes are messy and brutal, with peasants fighting nobles and Japanese invaders.

Flaws? Some battles drag, and the ending feels rushed. But as a wake-up call, it works. When Cheon-yeong spits, “We’re all slaves,” we realize Korea’s modern “polite” mask—school ranks, office hierarchies, even K-pop star contracts—still runs on old poison.

Watch this if you’ve ever wondered why bullies thrive in a culture that preaches harmony. Just don’t expect comfort. Uprising isn’t history—it’s a mirror, and the reflection ain’t pretty. I’ve seen lower ratings but I give this a 8/10, definitely one of the better well-made films that isn’t cheesy and lightweight. Well worth watching!

HelenMK Jan 13 2025 9:46 am Excellent!! Love the friendship story, shame the friend ended up like that:( But happy ending. Hope there is part 2! Bravo to everyone in the movie, specially the fighting part!!!!

Darey Oct 24 2024 3:20 am I was surprised, the storyline was very new and interesting. even though it is very scary, there are many cruel scenes here. and there is nothing to doubt about Gang Dong-Won and Park Jeong-Min.

BKR Oct 15 2024 12:57 pm Spoiler: Overall watchable. Excellent cast. But when the treasure is finally revealed one has to ask whether the Japanese General would really have risked so much and fought to the death to take the contents of those chests back to Japan. Rather silly.

Evanne Oct 14 2024 5:39 pm This is an odd movie.. (spoilers ahead, dont read if you havent watch yet)

It just 3 characters fighting with each other - the noble, the servant and a wayward lost Japanese forward general who apparently got abandoned by Konishi Yukinaga. (which makes no sense).

You would think the forward general would stick by Konishi and return back to Japan.. but nooo script says you stay in Korea.

And then the movie tried to develop this bro-bro relationship between master & servant.

And the most unbelievable part - 3 guys sword fighting against EACH other in a middle of a beach with lots of fog.

I thought i was watching Naruto version of Kakashi vs Zabuza fog fight.

?

Jeon Oct 13 2024 2:53 pm Why do King of Joseon was often portrayed in films or in Kdrama as either insane or incapable of properly ruling and at worst psychotic. Smh

Han Oct 12 2024 9:48 am Park Jeong Min is enough for me ?

Mew Mews Oct 12 2024 7:42 am this is a hard one to comment. I won't say i wasted 2 hours of my life, because i was doing something else while watching it. Yeah, its that gripping of a movie. The trailer was so misleading, and I was hyped for it, but damn it was hard to even finish watching. The swordsmanship choreography was the biggest height in this movie. Although Inspired on historical events, though fictitious, it gets unpleasant very fast, the time table, well, the viewer has to guess, which creates confusion while trying to follow the plot. Characters... I did not really care about anyone. I was expecting everyone to die in the end, which my reaction would be "finally. i can watch something else to wash my eyes!" Honestly, i do not recommend this movie.

Emily Oct 11 2024 9:56 pm Freaking amazing. Action packed and was thrilling and kept me captivated from beginning to end

Seohwa Lee Sep 18 2024 11:38 pm Fictional story but they’re using Imjin War period as a background plot, so awesome!

pixie Sep 09 2024 9:29 pm gang dong min X park jeong min X cha seung won Letsgooooo p/s: im kinda miss kingdom netflix jsndjsdf

Lulu Aug 29 2024 12:15 am another war movie, so curious what this is gonna be about cause there's literally no synopsis yet (the cast already looks amazing)

Uprising (Netflix)

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Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

Notes

Cast

Royal Palace

Righteous Army

Yi Jong-Ryeo's Group

Cheon-Young's Group

Trailers

Comments

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