South Korean independent film “The Berefts” is another grim social drama about several economically disadvantaged people around the bottom of the South Korean society. As dryly following its main characters’ struggle for better life, the movie attempts to make some points via their misery and despair along the story, but the overall result is not exactly interesting enough to hold our attention due to its weak story and bland characterization, and it only gave me hollow dissatisfaction in the end.

At the beginning, we are introduced to a middle-aged guy named Moon-ho (Lim Hoo-sung) and his mentally disabled adult daughter Go-eun (Lee Soon-jung), and the early part of the movie depicts how they go through their shabby daily life day by day. Without any place where they can stably stay, they move from one spot to another as depending on whatever Moon-ho can earn or get day by day, and he does not even hesitate to use his daughter’s mental disability just for getting what she wants.

On one day, there comes a small but tempting opportunity for better life. Along with a young single father named Do-kyeong (Lee Do-in), they get themselves involved with a seemingly lucrative real estate scam via a local broker, and all Moon-ho will have to do is having his daughter marry Do-kyeong before Do-kyeong applies for a special supply apartment for newlyweds. Once his application is accepted, that broker is going to handle the rest, and Do-kyeong and Moon-ho are promised that they will be regarded enough for their participation in this real estate scheme.   

However, of course, there is a catch from the very beginning. After they get married officially as planned, Do-kyeong and Go-eun should live together for a while for avoiding any possible suspicion, but both Go-eun and her father do not mind this inconvenience much. After all, they still need a place to stay right now, and Do-kyeong is willing to accommodate his “wife” and her father in a little residence recently rented by him.

What follows next is how these three people try to live together as a “family”. As getting accustomed to their new place, Moon-ho and his daughter help Do-kyeong whenever Do-kyeong does some part-time jobs outside for earning the living for his “family” and his little daughter, and Do-kyeong also receives some extra help from his sister, who has no problem at all with taking care of both his little daughter and Moon-ho’s daughter.

Needless to say, things soon begin to go wrong no matter how much Moon-ho and Do-kyeong try. Moon-ho comes to realize that it is really impossible for him to buy any suitable apartment for him and his daughter regardless of how much the real estate scam will eventually benefit him, and Do-kyeong also gets a dose of harsh reality after applying for that special supply apartment for newlyweds later. As a result, he and Moon-ho come to clash more with each other, while Go-eun remains helpless as before.

What eventually occurs during the last act is supposedly devastating, but the screenplay by directors/writers Hur Jang and Keong Beom, who incidentally made a feature film debut here in this movie, is too hesitant and clumsy in terms of story and character development. While we never get to know that much about any of its main characters, the movie also constantly remains distant because it apparently wants to avoid any possibility of becoming your average misery porn. Accordingly, we come to observe its story and characters from the distance without much care or attention.

Moreover, I was sometimes distracted by how it handles Go-eun in a rather mediocre way. Because of her mental disability, we certainly become concerned about whatever may happen to her, and the movie thankfully avoids any cheap attempt on exploitative melodrama, but it also seems to have no idea on how to give more detail and personality to this character. Although Lee Soo-jung’s solid acting manages to fill her seriously blank role to some degree, Go-eun is still more or less than a mere plot element to roll along the plot, and that looks quite problematic to me.

In case of several other main cast members in the film, they also try their best in filling their respective spots as much as required. Lim Hoo-sung, a veteran actor who has been mostly known for his stage performance, brings some gritty human qualities to his character, and he is especially effective when his character later tries to get hired at a little vineyard run by an estranged family member of his. Nothing much is said between Moon-ho and that family member of his on the surface, but we can clearly sense many years of estrangement between them. Despite being stuck in a thankless role, Lee Do-jin has a few good moments for himself, and Ji Sung-eun brings a bit of warmth to the movie as Do-kyeong’s caring sister.

In conclusion, “The Berefts” does not distinguish itself enough from many other moody South Korean social drama films out there as often hesitating to delve further into its characters’ growing desperation. It is certainly well-intentioned, but the overall result sadly failed to engage me, and I can only hope that its directors will soon move onto better works after this underachieving debut of theirs.