South Korean film “So Far So Close” is filled with plenty of atmosphere from the very beginning, and I appreciate that to some degree. Mainly set in an old bar decorated with a lot of old stuffs, the movie attempts a bittersweet romantic fantasia surrounding its solitary owner, but it does not have enough depth or substance to hold our attention, and that is a shame considering how often it shines with mood and details to be cherished.

The prologue part, which was incidentally shot in black and white film, introduced us to an old man named Joon-ho (Park Ho-san). He has run a bar for more than 10 years in some old neighborhood area of Seoul, but this area is about to go through a lot of re-development, and Joon-ho’s bar will be soon gone just like many other old places in the neighborhood.

As he looks around his almost abandoned bar, Joon-ho cannot help but become nostalgic, and then the movie goes back to 10 years ago. His bar is not doing well due to the news about the redevelopment plan on the neighborhood, but he does not give a damn about that as long as his customers keep coming to his bar. In addition, he also tries to write a screenplay whenever he has some free time in the middle of his worktime, though he still does not know what to write next after its prologue scene.

On one day, a young man comes into the bar. At first, this lad simply wants to drink a glass of beer, but, what do you know, he ends up talking a lot with Joon-ho. It is apparent to us that Joon-ho does not like the young man that much, but he patiently listens to the young man – until the young man talks about the ongoing redevelopment project in the neighborhood.

Although this causes a bit of conflict between them, Joon-ho still lets the young man stay in the bar, and then it gradually turns out that the young man did not come into the bar by mere coincidence. Several days ago, a young woman suddenly came into the bar, and she left a considerable impression on Joon-ho before eventually leaving the bar. Needless to say, this young lady was none other than the young man’s girlfriend, and he feels quite bitter about their breakup which happened not long before her visit to Joon-ho’s bar.

To Joon-ho, the young woman felt quite special to him because she resembles his ex-girlfriend a lot. As a matter of fact, he attempted to follow after her when it turned out that she left a wallet before leaving the bar, but he could not go outside the bar because of a certain past trauma associated with his ex-girlfriend, and then he came to feel more guilt when a local detective notified him on what happened to the young woman not long after she left the bar.

After observing both Joon-ho and the young man getting mired in more regret, the movie moves onto its second half, which is mainly involved with another young woman who comes to Joon-ho’s bar shortly after breaking up with her boyfriend. As a writer, she is surely sympathetic to Joon-ho’s struggle in writing the screenplay, and it seems that something mutual is being developed between them as they talk more and more with each other. 

However, we are not so sure about what is exactly happening around Joon-ho, mainly because not only this young woman but also the first young woman in the story and Joon-ho’s ex-girlfriend are played by the same actress. Moreover, both of the ex-boyfriends of the two young ladies are also played by the same actor, and we are all the baffled as Joon-ho often finds himself haunted by not only his ex-girlfriend but also the image of the first young woman in the story.

While never clarifying which is real or not, the movie immerses us more into its vivid atmosphere and details. Whenever the camera looks around all those old records and video tapes, we instantly get a sense of old history surrounding its hero, and we become more curious about what has been holding him inside his workplace for such a long time.

Unfortunately, the screenplay by director/writer/producer Choi In-gyoo stumbles more than once later in the story, and its finale feels rather shallow without enough emotional ground. In addition, its main characters remain to be more or less than broad archetypes without much personality, and that is the main reason why we are merely baffled by its occasionally confusing narrative instead of getting more engaged in that.

At least, the three main cast members of the film acquit themselves well. While Park Ho-san, who recently appeared in “Persona A Strange Girl” (2023), diligently holds the center with his earnest low-key acting, Ko Eun-min effortlessly brings some charm and presence to her three different roles, and Song Jae-rim, who sadly passed away not long before the movie was released in South Korean theaters around the end of last year, manages to leave some impression despite his thankless task. 

Overall, “So Far So Close”, which is incidentally Choi’s second feature film after “Unconfessional” (2014), has some strong elements including its impressive visual qualities, but it did not engage me enough in terms of story and character. At least, it occasionally shows its director’s considerable potential, and I sincerely hope that his next movie will satisfy me more.