Worldwide Wednesday: Korean Christianity in "Romans 8:37"

Romans 8:37
Release Date: November 2017
Run Time: 2 hours 13 minutes
6/10 Stars

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerers through him who loved us." - Romans 8:37

This movie is about the struggle of a church that has a minister accused of sexual harassment. Through working on the task force, our main character Gi-sup discovers the many victims of Reverend Joseph Kang, and believes he is guilty. However, once Kang resigns from the church, no one is interested in releasing the stories of the victims or prosecuting Kang for his crimes. We learn that many people are embroiled in the knowledge of this scandal, with their guilt eating them up inside.

Throughout this film, we see bible verses pop up intermittently, and doing so helps highlight the hypocrisy of the church and its officials during this unsure time, and how each one also relates to the everyday struggles of a christian. There is a questioning of the ideals a christian should live by and the reality of morals within religion and power one wishes to gain. Even though church members react negatively and action is taken when Kang is suspected of embezzlement, when he gets accused of sexual harassment people demand his return. There is a social divide when it comes to crimes against women. The victims are treated first and foremost with suspicion and disbelief, a damaging notion for anyone who speaks out against rapists. People in the church continually refer to the accusations as rumors and gossip, even after the evidence is released. This movie did not want to display a story of triumph or justice, but of the lack of it for the victims. It showed that if someone has enough influence, they are pardoned for their sins or given a mere slap on the wrist. Even though Kang admits his fault, he refuses to apologize or even acknowledge the victims directly.

The main perspective we receive is from Gi-sup, a christian and a member of the church with a bright future. He is in charge of the task force for Kang, but discovers so many victims. We can see him struggle with his christianity while on the task force defending Kang, ultimately leaving the church after finding so much damning evidence. The layering effect of the narrative is sometimes confusing and misleading, as the audience is expected to draw their own conclusions, as well as try and discern who is wrong or right. Because this movie is a drama, it’s more of a slow burn of revelations. Not a righteous ending or wrap up that leaves the audience satisfied, but a horrifying sense of realization. It is also difficult to discern the characters and who is important because there are quite a few people involved, with the movie giving little indication of the characters up until the end.


For me, this film was very difficult to watch and absorb. The focus of the movie was also frustrating, as it was more about Kang losing power than justice for the victims. Gi-sup doesn’t seem like a reliable main character, I think the movie could have been more interesting from the victim’s perspective. There are not a lot of direct scenes with the victims, merely testimony from audio recordings and scenes of rape. The victims aren’t given much focus beyond what happened to them from Kang. There are strange sub-plots going on that draw focus away from the main concept, and not in a good way. They don’t exactly fit well together or tie up the ending. The most profound part of the movie was the testimonies against Kang. The end of the movie was an emotional mess. Though the story was confusing and misdirected, it portrayed a heavy, but true, lack of consideration for victims of sexual harassment or rape within the Korean christian community.