JUNG_E ending spoilers follow.
Hellbound creator Yeon Sang-ho has returned to Netflix for new sci-fi JUNG_E, set in the year 2194 when humanity has relocated to space due to rapid climate change.
Having built shelters between the Earth and the Moon, humanity settled into its new existence. However, when three of the shelters decided to declare themselves the Adrian Republic, a civil war was born and it's a battle that has gone on for decades.
Military AI development company Kronoid believe they have found the potential solution to the war by creating the ultimate AI combat warrior JUNG_E. But the project has a personal connection to Kronoid's head researcher Yun Seo-hyun (Kang Soo-youn).
And that personal connection leads to an action-packed and emotional finale, so let's delve into it to answer any lingering questions you may have. Major spoilers are ahead, so don't read on if you haven't seen the movie yet.
JUNG_E ending explained: Who is JUNG_E?
It's revealed early on that JUNG_E is a clone of Seo-hyun's mother Yun Jung-yi (Kim Hyun-joo), who was a "legendary mercenary" and a war hero.
35 years earlier, Jung-yi fell into a coma after a failed mission working for the Adrian Republic. Kronoid got the permission to clone her brain to create the ultimate combat AI, using only the combat data in her brain to give the AI all the strengths of Jung-yi, but none of the weaknesses.
Kronoid aims to make her a "lasting hero of the Allied Force" by creating an army of JUNG_Es to end the war. However, no matter how many simulation tests they carry out, JUNG_E always fails at the same point and can't complete the mission.
Seo-hyun might be working on the project, but feels guilty that her mother's cloned brain is in this endless cycle of war. Jung-yi became a mercenary to fund Seo-hyun's lung cancer treatment and the day of her successful surgery was the same day of her mother's failed mission.
Unfortunately, Seo-hyun discovers that the cancer has returned and is now terminal. Like her mother, she could get her brain cloned, but it's expensive unless she goes for Type C, which is free and allows companies to make endless clones of her.
On their next simulation test, a new area of JUNG_E's brain starts to be activated which could be the key to success. However, before they can explore further, the civil war is ended by an agreement between the Adrian Republic and the Allied Force.
Seo-hyun is told to shut down the combat AI program and switch to housekeeper or service AIs. As she's shutting down the program, she realises that one of the test models is being tried out as a sex robot, with Kronoid keen to exploit the "celebrity war hero".
Believing it's her fault that her late mother is in this position, Seo-hyun wakes up the latest JUNG_E test model and discovers the new zone of its brain is Jung-yi's memories. She works out that the reason JUNG_E keeps failing is that Jung-yi's brain is thinking about her daughter's surgery and getting distracted.
In order to 'save' her mother, Seo-hyun deletes that part of JUNG_E's brain and tells it the truth about its situation ahead of the final simulation. JUNG_E fails the test again, but this time, it's faking being 'dead' and attempts to escape the facility.
Seo-hyun deletes the brain data of Jung-yi and helps JUNG_E escape by taking its brain and putting it into a blank combat AI, meaning it no longer looks like her mother. During their escape, Seo-hyun is fatally shot by Kronoid's lab director who's attempting to stop JUNG_E escaping.
A big battle between JUNG_E and the director (as well as a bunch of combat AIs) ensues, but JUNG_E is victorious. The AI wants to save Seo-hyun, but she tells JUNG_E to not worry about her. "Live only for yourself, be free," she tells JUNG_E, who Seo-hyun believes no longer remembers her.
However, in their final goodbye, JUNG_E rubs its face against Seo-hyun like her mother used to do, meaning JUNG_E still has memories of its past life. JUNG_E escapes as we hear Seo-hyun's final words to her 'mother': "May all the luck in the world be with you."
JUNG_E is available to watch now on Netflix.
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