Jung E

Jung_E portrays a desolated Earth in the year 2135 that is no longer habitable due to the rise of the sea level caused by climate change. Humans decide to move to space. After building 80 shelters between Earth and the Moon's orbital planes, they spend decades migrating citizens to the shelters. As the humans settle in, shelters number 8, 12 and 13, declare themselves as the Adrian Republic and they begin attacking Earth and the other shelters. This leads to decades of war between the Allied Forces and the Adrian Republic. Humans left on Earth continue to produce munitions, living like cogs of the machine that is war.

Captain Yun Jung-yi is a legendary mercenary of the Allied Forces who led her team to countless successful missions against the Adrian Republic. She has a little daughter, Yun Seo-hyun, who suffers from a lung tumor, and Jung-yi became a mercenary to afford her daughter's medical treatments. The day Seo-hyun gets the surgery, Jung-yi fails her mission and ends up in a coma. Kronoid, an institute in charge of developing AI technologies, convinces her family to agree to clone her brain, promising that they will cover Jung-yi's treatments, her daughter's education and living expenses.

Thirty-five years later in 2194, Kronoid clones Jung-yi's brain to develop an AI mercenary, code-named Jung_E. Dr. Yun Seo-hyun is the team leader of research project Jung_E and seeks to memorialize Jung-yi as a hero rather than a failure. Researchers at Kronoid have copied Jung-yi's brain data and put them in Android bodies. Through simulations of Jung-yi's final mission, they try to extract combat memory data that could be used to develop an exceptional combat AI. Just like Captain Jung-yi failed her last mission, AI JUNG_E also fails in every simulation of the last mission.

Seo-hyun learns that her childhood cancer has returned, and she only has three months left to live. She also learns through the chairman of Kronoid that there is no need to develop combat AI anymore because the Adrian Republic and Allied Forces are entering a treaty. With peace approaching, the company has decided to focus on household services. Seo-hyun discovers one of her team members with a scantily clad Jung_E robot in his apartment, but he claims that Kronoid has tasked him with investigating using the Jung_E models as sex robots. After the last simulation of project Jung_E, Seo-hyun escapes the facility with a Jung_E robot while other combat robots and security forces chase them. Kim Sang-Hoon, the project's director, is revealed to also be a robot with an AI brain. Kim shoots Seo-hyun as she and the Jung_E robot flee via elevated rail. The Jung_E robot fights him off, and he is destroyed when his part of the train falls to the ground. Seo-hyun urges Jung_E to leave her and survive. After surprising Seo-hyun by showing affection, Jung_E escapes and looks around on top of a rock in a mountain range.

• Kang Soo-yeon as Yun Seo-hyun{{cite web|url=https://n.news.naver.com/entertain/article/016/0001857974|author=Lee Myung-soo|title='월드 스타' 강수연, 영화 '정이'로 스크린 복귀한다|trans-title='World Star' Kang Soo-yeon to return to the screen with the movie 'Jung-i'|work=Herald Economy|via=Naver|date=July 7, 2021|access-date=March 17, 2022|language=ko}}
• Park So-yi as young Yun Seo-hyun{{cite web|url=https://n.news.naver.com/entertain/article/277/0005200490|author=Lee Seul|title=故강수연, 유작 '정이' 속 그리운 얼굴|trans-title=The late Kang Soo-yeon's missing face in her posthumous work 'Jung E'|publisher=Asian Economy|via=Naver|date=January 3, 2023|access-date=January 3, 2023|language=ko}}

: The team leader at Kronoid Laboratory, the research institute responsible for JUNG_E's clones and combat power tests. She is the daughter of Captain Yun Jung-yi, who entered a coma when Yun Seo-hyun was a child.

• Kim Hyun-joo as Yun Jung-yi/JUNG_E{{cite web|url=https://n.news.naver.com/entertain/article/109/0004437306|author=Kim Bo-ra|title=김현주, '정이' 주인공 낙점…연상호 감독 '지옥' 이어 두 번째 만남[공식]|trans-title=Kim Hyun-joo, the main character of 'Jung-i'... Second meeting after director Yeon Sang-ho's 'Hell' [Official]|work=OSEN|via=Naver|date=July 6, 2021|access-date=March 17, 2022|language=ko}}

: Captain Yun Jung-yi was a leader of the Allied Forces and was once considered a war hero. During her last mission, she is critically injured and ends up in a coma. Decades later in 2194, her brain data is cloned and used to develop an advanced combat AI, codenamed JUNG_E.

• Ryu Kyung-soo as Kim Sang-Hoon{{cite web|url=https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/008/0004613584?sid=101|author=Kim Gun-woo|title=스튜디오산타클로스 "류경수, 넷플릭스 SF 영화 '정이' 주연 확정"|trans-title=Studio Santa Claus "Kyung-soo Ryu confirmed to star in Netflix sci-fi movie 'Jeong-i'"|work=Money Today|via=Naver|date=July 8, 2021|access-date=March 17, 2022|language=ko}}

: He is the director of Kronoid Laboratory and is driven to succeed in the brain cloning experiment. He is a robot created by the chairman of Kronoid Laboratory that believes himself to be human.

• Lee Dong-hee as the chairman of Kronoid Laboratory{{cite web|url=https://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=408&aid=0000178231|author=|title=[애프터스크리닝] '정이' 故강수연의 유작이 좋은 의미와 메시지를 담아서 더없이 감사한 작품 ★★★|trans-title=[Afterscreening] The posthumous work of the late 'Jeongi' Kang Soo-yeon has a good meaning and message, so I am extremely grateful ★★★|work=MBC entertainment|via=Naver|date=January 20, 2023|access-date=January 21, 2023|language=ko}}
• Uhm Ji-won as Lee Se-yeon{{Cite web |author=Choi Seo-ah |date=January 21, 2023 |title=故 강수연 유작, 넷플릭스 '정이' 줄거리·출연진·원작·정보·평점은? |url=https://www.jejutwn.com/news/article.html?no=159777 |access-date=January 21, 2023 |website=Jeju Traffic Welfare Newspaper |language=ko}}

== Production ==

Kim Hyun-joo and Ryu Kyung-soo also appeared in director Yeon Sang-ho's previous work, 2021 Netflix series Hellbound.{{cite web|url=https://www.insight.co.kr/news/370662|author=Kwon Gil-yeo|title='지옥' 주인공 김현주, 차기작도 연상 호 감독과 함께 한다|trans-title='Hell' main character Kim Hyeon-joo will also be working with director Yeon Sang-ho for his next film.|via=Naver|date=December 1, 2021|access-date=March 17, 2022|language=ko}}{{cite web|url=https://n.news.naver.com/entertain/article/001/0012506675|author=Kang Ae-ran|title=연상호 감독 신작 '정이' 넷플릭스 제작…강수연 스크린 복귀|trans-title=Director Yeon Sang-ho's new movie 'Jung-i' is being produced on Netflix... Kang Su-yeon returns to the screen|work=Yunhap News|via=Naver|date=July 6, 2021|access-date=March 18, 2022|language=ko}}

Filming began in November 2021 and concluded in January 2022.{{cite web|url=https://n.news.naver.com/entertain/movie/article/001/0013162658|author=Kang Ae-ran|title=강수연 유작 '정이'에 관심…연상호 감독의 넷플릭스 SF 영화|trans-title=Interested in Kang Su-yeon's posthumous work 'Jungi'... Netflix sci-fi film directed by Yeon Sang-ho|publisher=Yunhap News|via=Naver|date=May 7, 2022|access-date=May 7, 2022|language=ko}}

A day later after its release, Jung_E took the first place globally on Netflix's film category.{{Cite web|title=TOP Movies on Netflix on October 22, 2022|url=https://flixpatrol.com/top10/netflix/world/2023-01-21/|website=Fix Patrol|access-date=January 22, 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=001&aid=0013714667|author=Kim Jeong-jin |title='정이', 넷플릭스 공개 하루 만에 세계 1위|trans-title='Jung Yi' ranks #1 in the world on the first day it was released on Netflix|publisher=Yonhap News Agency |via=Naver|date=January 22, 2023|access-date=January 22, 2023|language=ko}} Subsequently it debuted at the first place in Netflix's global Top 10 movie (non-English) category for the week of January 16 to 22, entering the Top 10 list in a total of 80 countries and recording 19 million hours viewed.{{cite web|url=https://top10.netflix.com/films-non-english?week=2023-01-16|title=Top Ten Films (Non-English) JANUARY 16 - JANUARY 22, 2022 |website=top10.netflix.com|access-date=January 25, 2023|language=ko}}{{cite web|url=https://n.news.naver.com/entertain/article/640/0000034230|author=Cho Yong-jun|title='Jung_E' tops Global Top 10 Most Popular Films chart on Netflix|publisher=Korea JoongAng Daily|via=Naver |date=January 25, 2023|access-date=January 25, 2023}}

Jung_E received "mixed or average reviews" on Metacritic. The site rated it 53/100 based on five reviews.{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/jung_e|title=JUNG_E Reviews |publisher=Metacritic. Fandom, Inc.|accessdate=January 26, 2023}} On Rotten Tomatoes, 50% of 24 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review, and the average rating was 5.5/10.{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jung_e|title=Jung_E|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media |accessdate=January 29, 2023}}

Reviewing for NME, Hidzir Junaini graded the film with 3 stars out of 5 and described the film as "extremely streamlined, contained almost entirely within the A.I. research lab, and focused on a heartrending mother-daughter relationship." Junaini praised the performance of Kang Soo-yeon and Kim Hyun-joo as well as the action sequences, VFX designs, CGI, and practical effects.{{cite web|title='JUNG_E' review: 'Universal Soldier' meets 'Westworld' in this South Korean sci-fi dystopia|author=Hidzir Junaini |url=https://www.nme.com/en_asia/reviews/film-reviews/jung-e-review-yeon-sang-ho-netflix-3384386|work=NME|date=January 20, 2023|access-date=January 22, 2023}} Rohan Naahar writing for The Indian Express rated the film with 3 out of 5, appreciating the storyline and criticizing the premise.{{cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/jung-e-movie-review-yeon-sang-ho-netflix-action-film-8394069/lite/|author=Rohan Naahar|title=Jung-E movie review: Train to Busan director's new Netflix action film is a slick and sentimental surprise|work=Indian Express|date=January 21, 2023|access-date=January 21, 2023}}

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Category:2020s South Korean films

Category:2020s Korean-language films

Category:2023 science fiction action films

Category:Articles with underscores in the title

Category:Climate change films

Category:Netflix original films

Category:Films about artificial intelligence

Category:Films about cloning

Category:Films about mother–daughter relationships

Category:Films directed by Yeon Sang-ho

Category:Films set in the 2100s

Category:Films about robots

Category:South Korean action films

Category:South Korean post-apocalyptic films

Category:South Korean science fiction action films