South Korean independent film “A Lonely Island in the Distant Sea”, which I belatedly watched only after it unexpectedly won the Grand Prize at the Wildflower Film Awards in South Korea, simply and leisurely rolls along with its plain hero’s life. As he goes through a series of small ups and downs along the story, the movie patiently engages us via a subtle balance between humor and drama coupled with some sincere moments of self-reflection, and it is alternatively amusing and touching to observe for us how things change for him and several others around him in one way or another.

At the beginning, we get to know its hero’s current life status. While he was once a promising young sculptor many years ago, Yoon-cheol (Park Jong-hwan) has been stuck with making simple sculptures to be used for science museums, and he has been fine with that just because 1) that has supported his living day by day and 2) he has no particularly interest in rebooting his old artistic career. While her adolescent daughter Ji-na (Lee Yeon) shows some artistic potential just like he did, they have been distant to each other for some time since his divorce, and they do not talk that much with each other when he comes to her high school for a small trouble of hers.

Meanwhile, Yoon-cheol later encounters Yeong-ji (Kang Kyung-hun), a female college lecturer who instantly becomes interested in Yoon-cheol after their first meeting even though there is nothing particularly attractive about him. She eventually lets him stay more round her, and it looks like they can be a bit more serious about their developing relationship.

However, not so surprisingly, things do not go as well as he hopes. When Yoon-cheol lets himself become rather distant from Yeong-ji due to doing some work outside South Korea, she eventually decides to break up with him, and Yoon-cheol belatedly realizes how much he really needs her. He naturally pleads her not to leave him, but she remains adamant nonetheless, while also sharply pointing out his faults on their relationship.

And there comes another unexpected happening to Yoon-cheol. After wandering more and more since deciding not to pursue her artistic aspiration, Ji-na eventually decides to become a Buddhist monk, and she promptly embarks on her preparation period after shaving her head. Naturally perplexed by his daughter’s decision, Yoon-cheol keeps asking her whether she is really serious about that, but she remains unflappable in her decision, while also totally being in piece with herself in contrast to her wild time in the past.

While the movie calmly moves from one episodic moment to another, we observe a number of subsequent changes in Yoon-cheol’s life. After he later comes upon the dead end of his current status, he decides to stay more around her daughter, and he soon finds himself working as a handyman for Ji-na, who is now called “Do-maeng”, and her female mentor. In addition, he also comes to open a little noodle shop at a nearby town, which gradually becomes profitable enough to support him despite its uneventful first days.

Getting more settled than before, Yoon-cheol starts to take care of several problems in his life. Although he and his daughter are now more like an employee and an employer, they find themselves opening themselves more to each other than before, and that is why it is poignant for us to see when Ji-na becomes more affectionate to her father later in the story. When Yoon-cheol meets Yeong-ji again, he shows more care to his ex-girlfriend for a good reason, and Yeong-ji surely appreciates this considerate gesture of his.

These and many other little personal moments in the film are presented well with unadorned poetic sensitivity under the dexterous direction of director/writer Kim Mi-yeong, who previously made a feature film debut with “Upstanding Man” (2016). For example, the key moments in the movie are thoughtfully composed on the wide screen of 2.35:1 ratio without drawing too much attention at all, and we accordingly get more immersed into its reflective mood as coming to care more about the story and characters.

Furthermore, Kim draws solid performances from her main cast members. Park Jong-hwan, who recently played a small but crucial supporting role in Eom Tae-hwa’s “Concrete Utopia” (2023), steadily carries the film as subtly conveying to us the slow but gradual inner changes of his character, and his effective performance comes to function as the stable ground for his fellow main cast members. While Lee Yeon, who previously drew my attention for her supporting turn in Byun Sung-hyun’s Netflix film “Kill Boksoon” (2023), is convincing in her character’s dramatic change along the story, Kang Kyung-hun is also wonderful in her supporting part, and the special mention goes to Park Hyun-sook, who always steals the show as Ji-na’s no-nonsense mentor.

In conclusion, “A Lonely Island in the Distant Island” is one of more interesting South Korean films of last year, and Kim shows here considerable potential as another talented South Korean filmmaker to watch. Although I have not watched “Upstanding Man” yet, “A Lonely Island in the Distant Island” impressed me enough on the whole, and I will certainly have some expectation on whatever will come next from her.