South Korean independent film “Time to Be Strong”, which is incidentally the 15th movie project of the National Human Rights Commission in South Korea, is a somber but haunting character drama about three young people feeling lost and desperate in one way or another. While a considerable part of their youth has already been gone, there is only a lot of uncertainty about their future, and the movie observes their loss and confusion with deep understanding and empathy.

At the beginning, we meet the three main characters of the story: Soo-min (Choi Sung-eun), Sa-rang (Ha Seo-yoon), and Tae-hee (Kang Chae-yun). We gather that they were once pretty popular as adolescent K-pop stars but they are all retired now, and the main purpose of their trip to Jeju Island is pretty simple: they want to have a private trip which may compensate for their lost high school days.

However, things do not go that well for them from the beginning. Sa-rang happens to get her suitcase lost before arriving at the place where they will stay during next several days, and she also inadvertently causes a serious trouble which costs all the money they have. As a consequence, they have to move to a little camping car, and they also must do some part-time job at a nearby tangerine orchard.

And we get to know more about how things have been quite bad for them. While Sa-rang has clearly been struggling with some mental problem, Soo-min has been suffering anorexia, and we are not so surprised when it is later revealed that their former K-Pop group was disassembled after some infamous incident which happened to one of their colleagues. In case of Tae-hee, he is still officially bound by his contract in addition to having the debt of less than 30 million won, and, as shown from a brief amusing scene early in the film, he still misses when he was quite famous.

Steadily building up its main characters along the story, the screenplay by director/writer Namkoong Sun, who previously made a commendable feature film debut with “Ten Months” (2020), subtly conveys to us how much its main characters have been exploited and damaged by their entertainment industry. Now becoming way over 20, they are not that youthful enough anymore, and, after spending so much time on doing whatever they were demanded to do, they are all at loss now while wondering about any possible way to deal with their loss and confusion.

However, the situation is not entirely bad for them as they come to receive the kindness of the strangers they happen to encounter. The owner of that tangerine orchard turns out to be more generous than expected, and there is a little touching moment when he provides some medical help to Soo-min at one point in the story. In case of a young woman who comes to befriend Soo-min and her friends by coincidence, she is eager to get to know them more, and she surely brightens up the mood a bit for all them during one evening.

However, there is still the harsh reality to deal with for Soo-min and her friends. While both Sa-rang and Soo-min remain haunted by that horrible incident, Tae-hee still does not know how to handle his serious financial problem, and all of them must recognize more that most of their youth is gone forever. Even at the end of the story, nothing much is certain, and they are all reminded more that they only have each other for now.

Nevertheless, the movie also ably pulls out some little moments of hope and optimism among its main characters in the end, and it also shows a bit of humor and warmth at times. In case of an unexpected dramatic moment during the last act, this becomes quite poignant as one of the main characters says something meaningful for all of them, and we also chuckle a bit as observing the absurd aspect of their circumstance.

Like any good character drama films, the movie benefits a lot from its solid cast members, who are all believable in their respective roles. Choi Sung-eun, who previously collaborated with Namkoong in “Ten Months”, gives another strong performance to remember, and she is also supported well by her two co-stars. Although her character often feels rather elusive, Ha Seo-yoon makes her character more understandable than expected, and Hyeon Woo-seok holds his own place well between Ha and Choi. As two crucial supporting characters in the story, Hong Sang-pyo and Kang Chae-yoon have each own moment to shine, and Kang steals the show a bit when her character sincerely tries to cheer up Soo-min and her two friends later in the story.

Overall, “Time to Be Strong” is the impressive second work from Namkoong, who surely confirms to us here that she is indeed a talented filmmaker who may impress us more during next several years. To be frank with you, I am not interested much in K-Pop, and I do not even know a lot about whatever has been happening inside the K-Pop industry, but the movie successfully delivers its important message on human rights via the story and characters to remember for a long time. In short, this is a first-rate public service in addition to being one of the best South Korean films of this year, and you should check it out as soon as possible.