An amnesiac man in search of an identity investigates himself while hopping from one body to another in Yoon Jae-geun’s existential noir
Apr 9, 2022 • Subscribe
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A location scout is forced to confront her romantic past on realising the director of her latest film is an old flame in Kim Min-geun’s indie drama.
Emergency Declaration (비상선언, Han Jae-rim, 2021)
Passengers on a plane find themselves with nowhere to land after a mad scientist releases a deadly virus in Han Jae-rim’s tense disaster thriller.
Chorokbam (초록밤, Yoon Seo-jin, 2021) [Fantasia 2022]
A small family contend with the persistent unfairness of the contemporary society in Yoon Seo-jin’s slow burn indie drama.
Guimoon: The Lightless Door (귀문, Sim Deok-geun, 2021)
A shaman who refused his destiny is trapped in a liminal space of infinite haunting in Sim Deok-geun’s eerie supernatural horror.
Tomb of the River (강릉, Yoon Young-bin, 2021)
A noble gangster is pulled towards the dark side in an internecine battle with pure evil over a lucrative resort in Yoon Young-bin’s purgatorial gangland drama
XX+XY (Lee Soh-Yoon, 2022)
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Confession (자백, Yoon Jong-seok, 2022)
An accused man and the woman sent to defend him battle over the elusive nature of objective truth in Yoon Jong-seok’s steely psychological thriller.
Hunt (헌트, Lee Jung-jae, 2022)
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Exhuma (파묘, Jang Jae-hyun, 2024)
The vengeful ghost of Japanese imperialism rises to take its revenge on its forgetful children in Jang Jae-hyun’s eerie supernatural horror.
The Tenants (세입자, Yoon Eun-Kyung, 2023)
An office worker’s plan to sublet his apartment somewhat backfires in Yoon Eun-Kyung’s eerie dystopian drama.
The Swordsman (검객, Choi Jae-hoon, 2020)
A master swordsman is dragged back into the world of courtly intrigue years after renouncing the code of violence when his daughter is taken by slavers in Choi’s…
Devils (악마들, Kim Jae-hoon, 2023) [Fantasia 2023]
A detective consumed by thoughts of vengeance suddenly wakes up in the body of the serial killer he’s hunting in Kim Jae-hoon’s twisty thriller.
Kim Min-young of the Report Card (성적표의 김민영, Lee Jae-eun & Lim Ji-sun, 2021)
Former high school friends find themselves at odds over their contradictory life choices in Lee & Lim’s quirky dramedy
Limecrime (라임크라임, Lee Seung-hwan & Yoo Jae-wook, 2020)
Two teens bond through shared love of hip hop but find their connection strained by class differences in Lee & Yoo’s indie coming-of-age drama
Awoke (복지식당, Jung Jae-ik & Seo Tae-soo, 2020)
Disabled after a car accident, a 30-something man finds himself trapped in a kafkaesque battle for recognition after being incorrectly assessed in Jung & Seo’s impassioned drama
A Hometown in Heart (마음의 고향, Yoon Yong-Kyu, 1949)
A lonely boy longing for his mother bonds with a grieving widow in Yoon Yong-Kyu’s tale of oppressive religiosity and the necessity of love
The Killer (더 킬러: 죽어도 되는 아이, Choi Jae-hoon, 2022) [Fantasia 2022]
A cynical hitman stumbles on a dark conspiracy when the teenager he’s supposed to be babysitting is kidnapped in Choi Jae-hoon’s retro action thriller.
Mother Land (엄마의 땅: 그리샤와 숲의 주인, Park Jae-beom, 2022) [Fantasia 2023]
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“Gokan expertly reveals the position of the freeter as an attempt to escape the capitalistic machinery but also as a position that most easily falls prey to the…
Time (Hong Kong, 2021) [NYAFF 2021]
Wilson Kwong reviews Ricky Ko's comedy-drama Time.
2021 Retrospective
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The Dungeon of Black Company, Battle Game in 5 Seconds, Scarlet Nexus, Sonny Boy, The aquatope on white sand
Summer 2021!
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Winter 2021
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Spring 2021!
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Fall 2021.
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The Vampire Dies in No Time, Musashi, Platinum End, VISUAL PRISON, Blue Period
Spring 2021.
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Farewell, 2021…
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“An amazing exploration of the clash between a sweet youthful romantic desire and the bitter urge of a wounded subject to defend his subjective wounds.”
Junho (South Korea/USA, 2021) [CAAMFest 2021]
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Spaghetti Code Love (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
“Maruyama’s narrative speaks powerfully to the spectator’s subjectivity – his fears and hopes – and enables his evocation of a glimmer of hope that remains present in this…
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Mari and Mari (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
“A beautiful narrative that seems to bear no relation to our romantic life at first, but ultimately hits close to home.”
Seobok (서복, Lee Yong-ju, 2021) [Fantasia 2021]
A terminally ill former government agent reckons with mortality while bonding with a clone birthed to cure humanity’s ills in Lee Yong-ju’s high concept thriller
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The narrative might not offer anything new at a thematical level, but stands out due to his refusal to spell things out and, instead, imply certain subjective truths…
Escape from Mogadishu (South Korea, 2021) [NYAFF 2021]
South Korean cinema is no longer the producer of small and idiosyncratic films that have to seep through the cracks of international cinema. It hasn’t been for years.…
Midnight (미드나이트, Kwon Oh-seung, 2021) [Fantasia 2021]
A deaf woman and her mother become unwitting targets for a sadistic serial killer in Kwon’s extraordinarily tense chase through the darkened streets of Soeul
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A great film that shows that the madness of the male subject is often function of a woman, of a woman that unknowingly puts the by a man…
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“Take’s film powerfully shows that the heroism of the art of boxing lies in the very subjective meaning that power the jabs, the hooks, and the uppercuts.”
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“Fuji delivers his best movie yet and, quite possibly, the cult-film of the year.”
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IDOLiSH7, IDOLiSH7 Third BEAT!, Peach Boy Riverside, Sasuke, Tokyo Revengers
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