If you scroll through the user reviews on The Treacherous 2015 IMDb page, you will find a perfect bell curve of 1-star and 10-star ratings. Here is why:
The film features a notorious sequence involving the hunting of peacocks—not for food, but for pure aesthetic sadism. This scene is referenced in nearly every negative user review on IMDb as the point where the film crosses from historical drama into grotesque satire. the treacherous 2015 imdb
The official IMDb synopsis is brief but brutal: "In the Joseon dynasty, a courtier betrays his king to seize power, only to find himself entangled in court politics and desire." If you scroll through the user reviews on
To flesh that out: The film stars Ju Ji-hoon (famous for Kingdom and Princess Hours) as Im Sung-jae, a corrupt minister navigating the reign of the notoriously unstable King Yeonsan (played with terrifying mania by Kim Kang-woo). Set in 1506, the story follows Im Sung-jae’s manipulation of the king’s bloodlust to eliminate his political rivals. The "treachery" of the title is multi-layered—every character betrays everyone else. The official IMDb synopsis is brief but brutal:
While IMDb lists the film simply as "R," the reality is that The Treacherous contains some of the most unsimulated-looking violence and sexual assault scenes in commercial Korean cinema. Many Western viewers were caught off guard. One top user review on IMDb warns: "This is not 'The King's Speech.' This is torture porn dressed in Hanbok." Another argues: "The brutality is historically accurate to Yeonsan's reign."