Synopsis

Jinwoo, a Korean American, returns to Seoul amid an escalating global crisis. Despite being exempt from service, he’s determined to enlist in the military and join the Korean soldiers being sent overseas. Awaiting his deployment day, he spends his time wandering the city’s winding streets, reconnecting with old friends and trying to win the approval of his stern, reserved father. A quiet tension builds as the big day approaches, and Jinwoo begins to question his decision.

Chicago-based director James Choi composes his images with a rare sensitivity, combining unconventional cityscapes with subtle, understated performances to cultivate a contemplative mood. A profound meditation about identity, duty, and the difficulty of choosing a path when the distinction between right and wrong is anything but clear.

Synopsis

Dark comedy meets despair in Park Chan-wook’s latest thriller satirizing the social pressure and shrinking industries facing today’s workers in South Korea and beyond. Squid Game’s Lee Byung-hun stars as Man-soo, a long-time Solar Paper employee whose sense of self is imperiled after he abruptly loses his job.

Terrified that the trappings of success—professional recognition, handsome home, loving family—will slip from his grasp, he searches for a new role as bills begin piling up. At his wit’s end, he hatches a scheme to identify, then eliminate, his competition for the last remaining position in specialty papers. With mounting absurdity and desperation, Man-soo lures his rivals into his deadly trap using the empty promise of employment in their all-but-obsolete industry, convincing himself at every turn of the truth behind the film’s title: that he has no other choice.

Brought to life by Park’s singular talent for masterfully depicting the bleakest situations, the director’s latest is further animated by a compelling turn from his leading man that is equal parts heartbreaking and unhinged.

Synopsis

Donghwa (Ha Seongguk), a thirty-something poet, is committed to living a life of beauty and simplicity. One afternoon, he drives his girlfriend Junee (Kang Soyi) to her parents’ home just outside of Seoul. There, he meets her father (played by Hong Sangsoo mainstay Kwon Haehyo) for the first time—a generally affable goofball who develops a strange fixation for Donghwa’s car. A quick spin around the block leads to an invitation to dinner and a chance to meet the rest of the family. A lazy afternoon slips into a drunken evening, and everything starts to unravel as Donghwa’s idealistic confidence begins to fray.

A bitterly comic fable about life, art, and the desire to live simply, What Does That Nature Say to You is a rich and revealing character portrait. Festival mainstay Hong Sangsoo (By the Stream) deploys his trademark long takes and keen narrative intuition to chart the comeuppance of his quixotic protagonist.

Synopsis

Roommates Jae-hee, whose devil-may-care attitude and sharp tongue make her the target of vicious gossip, and Heung-soo, who lives in fear of being outed, are both looking for love. The two find strength in their unlikely friendship, but—together or apart—can they survive the emotional whirlwind of modern romance in Seoul?

Synopsis

Sohee, an overachieving high schooler, is optimistic about her future. After accepting an internship at a call center, she’s thrown into a chaotic world of grueling hours, crippling expectations, and low pay. Under mounting pressure, she takes her own life. Police detective Yoo-Jin begins an all-consuming investigation into Sohee’s tragic death. This ripped-from-the-headlines social procedural is a gripping condemnation of modern working culture.