200 Pounds Beauty 2023

Hanna Kang is introduced as an obese phone sex part-timer who also serves as a ghost singer for Ammy, a famous pop star who relies on lip-syncing rather than singing live. The movie unfolds through a quiet, observant lens that tracks Hanna’s aching crush on Sang-jun Han, a director whose father, Choi Han, owns the record label that signs Ammy. The dynamic between Hanna, Ammy, and Sang-jun sits at the heart of the story, revealing how fame, power, and perception collide in the music industry.

The narrative takes a sharp turn when Ammy, seeking to humiliate Hanna, sends an outfit that Hanna believes is from Sang-jun to wear to his birthday party. She wears the same outfit at the party, only to be publicly ridiculed. In the restroom, Hanna overhears Sang-jun telling Ammy to be kind to her, a moment that underscores the precarious line Hanna walks between visibility and invisibility in Ammy’s orbit. Heartbreak drives Hanna to the brink, and she attempts suicide. Her crisis is interrupted by a phone call from Kong-hak Lee, a plastic surgeon who has built a reputation by fulfilling extreme cosmetic requests. In a defining turn, Hanna convinces him to perform extensive surgery that would alter her appearance, granting her a chance at a new life.

After a year of seclusion during recovery, Hanna emerges transformed: she is incredibly beautiful and slender, a reinvention that shocks even her closest friend Jung-min Park. With Jung-min’s support, Hanna reimagines herself as a Korean-American from California named Jenny, a fresh identity that opens doors. Re-auditioning to become Ammy’s secret vocalist, she not only earns a place at the microphone again but lands her own recording contract. Meanwhile, Ammy grows anxious that her own voice will be exposed if the release of her second album is delayed, and she intensifies efforts to locate Hanna. Her tactics escalate, including a troubling pursuit that involves spending time with Hanna’s father, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Sang-jun pushes back, ordering Ammy to abandon the search and threatening to terminate the contract if she continues.

As Jenny, Hanna navigates an evolving career and a tense relationship with Ammy, with the specter of exposure always looming. Through a series of increasingly intimate encounters, Jenny and Hanna come to realize that Jenny is, in fact, Hanna. The revelation ushers in a wave of emotional consequences: Hanna’s debut single, “Maria,” becomes a hit, and the public start to hear a true story behind the glossy alter ego. At a release party, Ammy even brings Hanna’s vulnerable father into the spotlight in an attempt to expose the deception, forcing Hanna to confront the human cost of her double life. Hanna’s indifference to her father inflames Jung-min, who challenges her on the way she has treated those who supported her.

Sang-jun finally confesses that he knows Hanna’s true identity, and Hanna chooses to tell him the full truth, including the extent of the surgery and the sacrifices she made for her career. In a moment of painful honesty, she reveals that she pursued the transformation to win his love. He candidly expresses that love cannot be earned by deception, and Hanna begins to see the hollowness of chasing approval from someone who has never seen her as she truly is. Still, Hanna decides that she cannot continue living a lie, even if that means breaking away from a dream she once valued.

The pressure intensifies when Ammy threatens to reveal Hanna’s deception unless Sang-jun cancels the concert. Sang-jun refuses to be deterred, urging Hanna to perform not for the label or the fans, but for herself. Before taking the stage, Hanna makes amends with Jung-min, apologizing for the way she treated her father and the people she cares about. The concert becomes a crucible in which Hanna’s courage is tested: she openly admits that she was a ghost singer for Ammy while being overweight and that she underwent extensive plastic surgery to alter her voice and appearance. A tape of the original, obese Hanna singing is played, and the moment is intimate and unguarded. The crowd responds with genuine emotion, recognizing the courage it takes to reveal one’s true self.

In the wake of the confession, Hanna reconciles with her father and with Jung-min, chooses to drop the stage-name Jenny, and forges a new path as Hanna Kang, an artist who claims her own name and voice. The story concludes with Hanna’s ascent as a respected performer who has learned to balance personal identity with professional success. Sang-jun’s realization that his feelings for Hanna run deeper than the career dynamic persists, and he continues to champion her, not as a means to an end but as a partner who shares in her authentic ambitions.

Throughout the film, the emotional terrain is explored with a steady, human-focused lens: the burdens of comparison and body image, the ethical compromises of the music business, the fragility of family ties under the strain of fame, and the eventual, redemptive power of choosing truth over illusion. The result is a nuanced portrait of transformation that never trivializes Hanna’s journey but rather situates it within a broader meditation on identity, love, and resilience.