I’ve been writing mostly about kdramas (and cdramas😉) lately, so I thought that this time round I’ll shift the focus to Korean movies – for this post the spotlight is on actor Jo Jung-seok, who has been more active on the chungmuro side in recent years other than some cameos in kdramas. If you’ve been a fan of kdramas and k-ent in general, it’s impossible not to know him for his incredible talent in acting and performing. Jo Jung-seok is an amazing actor – for the two movies that I will be talking about, it is truly a joy watching him do what he’s so good at. He has earned himself several acting accolades over the years, with the latest one being Best Actor Award at the Baeksang Arts Awards held on 5th May 2025 for his role in Pilot. Just in case you’re wondering about this post’s background image, the cast of Pilot was featured in a pictorial for Vogue magazine leading up to the movie’s release back in July 2024 (link here!) The pictorial features props of things found on flights, in planes and at airports as the background; I’ve just picked a few for use (all credits to Vogue Korea).

Jo Jung-seok has been memorable in several projects – from dramas such as Oh My Ghost as star chef Kang Sun-woo, to Professor Lee Ik-jun in both seasons of Hospital Playlist, amongst others (just to name a few) and has made a name for himself in movies since Architecture 101. His latest movies, My Daughter is a Zombie and Pilot had been box office hits in South Korea and as I said earlier, they were roles which were able to showcase him at his best – comedy. Admittedly, I don’t find myself very attuned to comedy as a genre in general, or k-comedy for that matter. But Jo Jung-seok is such a natural when it comes to comedic acting, and I was truly entertained by his delivery, to the point of laugh-out-loud (LOL) kind of funny at certain parts. After a long and hard day, if you’d just want to relax and get some laughs I would really recommend them. There were also certainly other aspects in both movies I enjoyed, but I’ll talk more about them later.

PILOT 파일럿 (2024)

Alright, I am more than a year late here but only saw this as a family night movie when it was released on VIU a couple of months ago. Jo Jung-seok is no doubt the MVP of the film, even more so when his character Han Jung-woo uses his sister’s identity Han Jung-mi (Han Sun-hwa) and cross-dresses as a woman in disguise. I only know Han Sun-hwa from My Sweet Mobster as the endearing Go Eun-ha, but I do think she was quite remarkable as the real Han Jung-mi – from her being super done with Jung-woo in the beginning to then assisting him in his makeover to become “Jung-mi” as well as helping to keep his secret. She had her own flair and charm that was able to complement her interactions with Jung-woo and was lovely to watch. Her drunk acting during the birthday party scene was truly a class act – its probably the most memorable scene of her for me. Anyway, that whole sequence was crazy good – had me in giggles which turned to a laughter outburst. Back to Jo Jung-seok, it was really funny to see him doing all those lady-like things for the sake of Pilot that I had a blast watching; and looking at the outcome I’m pretty sure he also had a good time during the filming process. The other characters Yoon Seul-ki (Lee Joo-myoung) and Seo Hyun-suk (Shin Seung-ho) weren’t as inspiring since I’d felt like they were used mainly to move the story arcs along – with Hyun-suk feeling attracted to makeover Jung-mi despite finding “her” familiar and Seul-ki’s budding friendship with “Jung-mi” which couldn’t end up well since it was a ruse to begin with. Granted it wasn’t Jung-woo’s intention to deceive Seul-ki but I guess the overall circumstances made him desperate. The closer they got, it just became more and more difficult to keep up the pretence. Thus it was only natural that Seul-ki felt hurt, because she had treated “Jung-mi” with sincerity and saw her as a true friend. Veteran actress Oh Min-ae also left an impression as Jung-woo and Jung-mi’s mother – the whole fangirl arc to idolising “Jung-mi” contributed to some laughs as well. There are also a few interesting surprise cameos in the movie which you could look out for, but I shall not spoil😉

my daughter is a zombie 좀비딸 (2025)

Released in Korean theatres on 30th July this year, My Daughter is a Zombie tells the story of how Lee Jung-hwan (Jo Jung-seok) trains his daughter Lee Soo-ah (Choi Yoo-ri) in order to protect her, after she becomes a zombie thanks to a virus in their neighbourhood. I managed to catch the movie at the local cinemas about one and a half (1.5) months after its release at home, and it was a worthwhile big-screen experience. The movie industry has honestly been struggling since the pandemic so I was glad that I could support in whatever small way I can. Right off the bat, the movie’s hilarious – you already know you’re in for laughs, but certain small parts just make you laugh so hard. I’ll refrain from giving away spoilers (mostly) since some people might not have watched it yet – but I do think that it’s also thanks to a cast of seasoned actors who manage to showcase their years of acting experience and make up for a rather enjoyable film all around. Yoon Kyung-ho was memorable in his performance as Doctor Han Yu-rim in The Trauma Code: Heroes On Call, and it was the same here as Jung-hwan’s best friend Jo Dong-bae. I guess it helps that he is good same-age friends with Jo Jung-seok in real life, so in some ways it translates in acting as well. He has convinced me once again that he has some kind of talent for comedic acting, because it was entertaining to see sparks fly between Jung-hwan, Dong-bae and Soo-ah. Veteran actress Lee Jung-eun, who starred as Jung-hwan’s mother and Soo-ah’s grandmother Kim Bam-soon was truly a scene stealer. As a typical Asian mother/grandmother, Bam-soon was unpretentious and stern, but able to deliver a comical presence without purposefully intending to be funny. The whole package, from the old-school hometown village styling to the props was suited to a T. Thought I should also mention that the movie is adapted from an original webcomic by writer Lee Yoon-chang – and the movie version was successful in bringing home a human touch to zombie Soo-ah as opposed to the fact that zombies are emotionless monsters that should be feared. As a bonus, you even get to watch Jo Jung-seok dance to Korean-pop; he’s got the moves as well!

Just to add on a little tidbit, the cast of My Daughter is a Zombie appeared on the Nation’s emcee Yoo Jae-suk’s talkshow Pinggyego to promote their movie and well, chit chat 😂 – it was really hilarious just like the movie, watching them joke around and tease each other so I enjoyed it too. I will link the video below for your easy reference. There already are english subtitles embedded as well.😊

The aspect that both movies have in common is that there is a secret at stake and chaos would break out if it is discovered – in Pilot, we have Jung-woo trying desperately to convince his new colleagues and friends of his Jung-mi act while in My Daughter Is A Zombie we have Jung-hwan attempting all means and ways to hide the fact that his daughter became a zombie to prevent her from being caught by the authorities. Secondly, as amusing as both were as comedies, universal themes such as familial love and acceptance and gender inequality were explored. Personally, I would say that My Daughter Is A Zombie did a better job on the touching parts overall. Nonetheless, it’s nothing too deep so I would advice taking things with a pinch of salt. Generally speaking, I think that the most ideal way to enjoy these movies would be something like taking a 2-hour stress relief break for feel-good vibes. Not to forget that you get to watch the talented Jo Jung-seok allowing us to get immersed in his effortlessly natural comedic acting. It looks easy, but rest assured it isn’t. I feel like he did all sorts of things (some that probably wouldn’t cross your mind before watching or if you haven’t seen the webcomic) throughout both movies and really shone.

Have you watched Pilot and/or My Daughter Is A Zombie? Feel free to share your thoughts ❤️ ~