There's a new witch on the block in upcoming director Park Hoon-jung’s latest film “The Witch: Part 2. The Other One.”


As the title suggests, the flick is about a witch born as a result of a project to create superhumans, called “Ark1 Datum point.” Referred to as “the girl,” the role of the witch went to rookie actor Shin Si-ah, beating out some 1,408 others during the audition process.

The film is director Park Hoon-jung’s latest project after releasing his Netflix film “Night in Paradise” last year. As he did in “Night in Paradise” and “The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion” (2018), the director’s specialty lies in bringing young female protagonists into the limelight in action noir, a genre which traditionally spotlights men.

Actor Kim Da-mi, who portrayed the first witch in the 2018 film, was a rookie actor herself when she was cast for the role of Ja-yoon. Kim shot to stardom by portraying a seemingly innocent girl who hid the extent of her powers and chose to reveal her true colors only when she deemed necessary. For Shin, this is her silver screen debut.

Garnering over 3.18 million ticket sales, “The Witch” universe has a maniac fandom of moviegoers who were excited to see a unique female protagonist whose superhuman abilities seemed undefeatable.

At an online press event on Tuesday, director Park Hoon-jung hinted that that there may be more to come for his cinematic universe of “The Witch,” saying that he hasn’t even unraveled “one-tenth of what [he] has in store for the complete narrative.”

As he did with “The Witch 1,” the narrative of the upcoming film is similar: a story revolving around an all-powerful girl, her creator, the forces who chase her and those who try to protect her.

Jo Min-soo, who portrayed the witch's creator Doctor Baek in the prior film, is back again in the sequel, this time as Doctor Baek’s twin sister and the head supervisor behind “Ark1 Datum point.”

“[Baek] is the creator behind another project, different from her sister’s [in ‘The Witch’],” Jo said. “The sisters have different approaches to their projects, but they both ultimately try to create witches.”

Just as Doctor Baek attempted in “The Witch 1,” Jo said that the main objective of her character is “to kill” her witch.

Other forces aiming to kill the girl are portrayed by Lee Jong-suk, Seo Eun-soo and Jin Goo. Meanwhile, Park Eun-bin and Sung Yoo-bin become the girl’s protectors when Kyung-hee, portrayed by Park, comes across the girl on the road.

“She [Kyung-hee] has a bit of family history,” Park said. “She was living apart from her family in America for a while but comes back to protect her father’s farm and her younger brother Dae-gil [portrayed by Sung] from harm when her father suddenly passes away. At the moment of danger, she comes across this girl who had just come out to the world, and she just couldn’t leave her behind so she becomes her protector.”

According to Shin, Kyung-hee and Dae-gil are the girl’s only friends and hold a special place in her character’s heart.

“I believe the main differences between the two witches are their experiences and the environment [they grew up in],” Shin said. “Ja-yoon, from her childhood, had friends and families that she bonded with, and she grew up with a lot of social experiences that made her more adept at expressing her emotions and thoughts. Meanwhile, the girl is very inexperienced in that sense because she had spent her life locked up inside the secret laboratory.”

As her character possesses superhuman abilities that are up to par, or even more powerful, than Ja-yoon, Shin said that she had to rely on her imagination for her scenes.

“I did my best to imagine her abilities in my mind, and [for scenes] that I couldn’t, I referred to Marvel superhero films.”

Actor Kim Da-mi will also make an appearance in the upcoming film. According to Park, it will reveal the roots of Ja-yoon’s origins as well.

“The Witch: Part 2. The Other One” will be available in local theaters from June 15.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]