The Face Reader

The Face Reader is a South Korean historical drama set during the Joseon dynasty. It follows Nae-kyung, a man of noble birth whose family has fallen from favour, who masters the art of reading a person's character and fate from their face. His skill draws the attention of powerful figures at court, and he is soon caught between two rival forces: Kim Jong-seo, a senior official, and Grand Prince Soo-yang, who has his own designs on the throne. Nae-kyung's talent makes him valuable to both sides in a struggle that plays out around a young king.

The film was directed by Han Jae-rim, who co-wrote the screenplay with Kim Dong-hyuk, and it was his first feature as director, followed later by The King and Emergency Declaration. Song Kang-ho leads the cast as Nae-kyung, with Lee Jung-jae as Grand Prince Soo-yang, Baek Yoon-sik as Kim Jong-seo, Cho Jung-seok, Lee Jong-suk and Kim Hye-soo in supporting roles.

Released in September 2013, the film runs 140 minutes. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.8 from roughly 3,200 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 7 out of 10 from a much smaller base of about 108 votes. The two audiences are broadly in agreement, with the smaller TMDB sample rating it slightly higher than the larger IMDb group.