Ballerina ending spoilers follow.
Netflix's Ballerina is all about revenge, so you can expect a brutal, bloody ending.
This new Korean action thriller film reunites Money Heist Korea: Joint Economic Area stars Jeon Jong-seo and Kim Ji-hoon, both back on Netflix for a new gripping story that begs the question: what if John Wick was a bit like Black Swan, but set in South Korea?
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Except, Lee Chung-hyun's latest film is so much more than that, of course.
Yes, Ok-ju is out to avenge her bestie, and sure, balletic sequences feature plenty, both on stage and in combat too, but Ballerina's focus on female friendship is refreshing in a genre that still sidelines women more often than not.
Through multiple flashbacks, we come to understand exactly why Ok-ju is so driven in her quest for revenge and why Min-hee (Park Yoo-rim) meant so much to her in the first place. And that's exactly why Ok-ju pledges to help an unnamed "slave" girl who wants revenge against Choi Pro and the rest of his gang as well.
Yet even with a new arsenal in tow, neither of them are ready when Choi surprises them both with an ambush in Ok-ju's home. The girl is kidnapped again and taken to the gang's headquarters while Ok-ju is cut up into pieces and buried on a nearby mountain. Or at least, that's what the incompetent Choi tells his boss.
Ok-ju actually manages to escape by jumping out of the window, and that's when her thirst for vengeance kicks into a whole new gear.
Netflix's Ballerina ending explained
Ok-ju shows up at the seedy hotel where Choi usually takes his victims, including Min-hee. After she quickly dispatches the front desk guy with bad hair, she turns to the man who lost his leg in their previous encounter. Remembering how formidable Ok-ju is, he gives up Choi's location, which is also where she'll find the other girl.
On her way to a secret drug den that's hidden under some fancy stables. Ok-ju kills three confused henchmen in the lift with ease. And then, covered in blood, she enters the base of operations with a demand: If someone working there can reveal the girl's location without asking any questions, she'll let them live.
At that point, the boss shows up and tries to charm Ok-ju with a smile and some whiskey. "It's not like I'm holding a grud–" BANG. He seemed convincing, to us at least, but Ok-ju doesn't have time to play nice, so she shoots him right in the forehead.
Her weary old gun, sold to her by that adorably thrifty old couple, stops working then though, so the gang take this chance to try and kill Ok-ju.
"Try" being the operative word.
In Ballerina's most impressive fight scene yet, Ok-ju fends off an entire room full of criminals who are all trying to punch and stab her at the same time. They get some hits in sure, but by the end, there's only one man left alive, and that's only because Ok-ju needs answers.
The film then cuts to the pharmacist above ground who is carting the girl around. She appears to be dead and so does Ok-ju when Choi suddenly shows up and shoots the "satanic bitch," as they put it. The pharmacist wants to finish Ok-ju off himself for the 100 million won reward. There's no-one left alive to pay him though, so Choi just kills him instead, clearly annoyed by his greed.
The slave girl shoots at Choi then. Yay, she's alive. But boo, she's got bad aim, because Choi emerges entirely unscathed. Still, at least this gives Ok-ju enough time to turn the tables on Choi and injure him quite extensively. This revenge story isn't over just yet though.
The next we see of Choi, he's being dragged out of the boot of his own car that Ok-ju stole earlier on in the film. They're at the beach, right by the sea. And Ok-ju's friend is helping her put on the giant flamethrower we saw the old woman practise with before...
Choi freaks out, screaming that Ok-ju has blown things out of proportion. When Ok-ju reveals that she knew 'The Ballerina', Choi starts to apologise, realising that this vendetta is a personal one, after all.
Ok-ju hits Choi in the face with the metal end of the flamethrower, and that's when his true nature kicks in. "Was she really a ballerina?" he asks. "I've never seen such a fat ballerina." Choi gets the giggles then, infuriating Ok-ju even more.
With that, Choi taunts Ok-ju one last time by saying he'll keep doing awful things to Min-hee over and over again when they wind up in hell together.
"I'll hunt you all the way down to hell," Ok-ju replies, and then the beach lights up like hell itself as flames consume Choi entirely. He screams as tears flow down Ok-ju's face.
One last flashback takes us back to this same beach, but during a much happier time when Ok-ju and Min-hee first visited this "secret spot" together.
Min-hee reveals that she'd love to be reincarnated as a fish in her next life. Then, after Ok-ju retrieves all the videos that Choi filmed of his victims, the end credits take us to Min-hee dancing deep down under the ocean, calm and serene...
But not before we see Choi's body continue to burn on the beach, hours later. Because this is a revenge thriller, after all. And it's a particularly satisfying one, at that.
Ballerina is now available to stream on Netflix. It premiered on October 5, 2023 at the 28th Busan International Film Festival.
After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
