Song Hye-kyo finds freedom in measured horror in ‘Dark Nuns’

Song Hye-kyo. Image: United Artists Agency via The Korea Herald

With a slight smile forming, Song Hye-Kyo says, “I’m actually more of a realist, so not really into the supernatural stuff.”

“I did try tarot though,” she adds.

The observation comes with her characteristic nonchalance as she sits in a quiet cafe in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, her silhouette emanating an understated elegance that feels less calculated than innate.

This sense of earned confidence, born of decades of experience rather than careful cultivation, surfaces even as she discusses her unprecedented venture into horror with “Dark Nuns,” which marks a return to theaters for her after an 11-year absence. The spinoff of 2015’s “The Priests” places two women at the forefront of its exorcism narrative, with Song inhabiting the role of Sister Unia alongside Jeon Yeo-been’s more contemplative Sister Michaela.

“Unia is a very unconventional figure,” says Song, her measured tone matching the character’s cynical detachment. “She’s this free spirit who does all the things the church forbids her from doing, especially when it comes to saving a child’s life.”

The role represents a striking departure — a cigarette-wielding, profanity-spouting nun who engages in the exorcisms traditionally reserved for male priests, all in service of saving a possessed boy played by Moon Woo-jin.

Song approached the character with characteristic thoroughness. “I saw Unia as this nonchalant figure who has had her fill with demons, so she could handle them easily,” she says. “She’s driven by acceptance of her fate. So even when a demon hurls insults at her, she maintains her calm.” This commitment extended to six months of smoking practice, despite being a nonsmoker, to ensure authenticity in Unia’s scenes.

It is nothing short of a breakthrough in Song’s celebrated 30-year career. Long reigning as the goddess of Korean romantic drama series, her beauty became synonymous with the genre well before the global K-wave, starring in beloved small-screen hits from “Autumn in My Heart” (2000) to “Descendants of the Sun” (2016).

‘Dark Nuns’ marks another step in Song’s artistic evolution following her career-redefining turn in Netflix’s “The Glory” (2022). In that series, she portrayed a revenge-driven victim of school violence, fully embracing complex dramatic territory after decades as Korean television’s favorite romantic lead.

“Ever since ‘The Glory,’ I haven’t wanted to return to love stories,” she says. “I still love romance, but trying a more serious genre was truly transformative. I wanted to carry that momentum, lean into this new facet of my career.”

This shift carries through in her portrayal of Sister Unia — a stone-faced figure maintaining composition even during the most intense exorcism sequences. The performance bears unmistakable traces of the main protagonist in “The Glory” in its simmering restraint, though here serving a different purpose. The interpretation proves apposite for the otherwise poorly fleshed-out character, but its effect on the overall film is more questionable.

Song Hye-kyo as Sister Unia in “Dark Nuns.” Image: Next Entertainment World via The Korea Herald

“Dark Nuns” structures themselves as an elaborate setup for its finale — a cross-cultural collaboration between Western and Eastern occult forces in the ultimate exorcism. The problem is that even this prolonged climax, while technically capable, struggles to generate genuine shock or visceral impact. Song’s measured performance, while serving the character’s emotional arc, in effect serves to amplify the film’s overall sense of uneventfulness and removal.

Yet Song seems to approach these artistic choices with unflinching self-assurance.

“It was a collective process — both a product of the director’s intent and my interpretation,” she says of her restrained approach. “All occult films are different; they can’t be identical. I wanted to show something unique to me.”

As the interview draws to a close, Song reflects on her craft with disarming candor. “Acting is still so hard,” she says, her voice carrying a hint of contemplation rather than complaint.

“When I was young, I thought I’d have it all figured out by now. But it’s never an easy job. The characters age as I age. You have to keep studying, working harder and harder.”