South Korean independent film “Merely Known as Something Else” is deliberately distant and elusive. As freely juggling several different characters on its non-linear narrative gradually revolving around a certain vague figure, the movie frequently confuses and baffles us from the beginning to the end, and you may often feel quite frustrated about what is about even though admiring how it is about.

As far as I can see, the movie is about three different women and their lingering feelings about a male artist in their life. This man is currently in a relationship with Soo-jin (Gong Min-jung), but he has recently been out of reach for a while to her bafflement, and she subsequently has an affair with a male writer introduced to her via his publication company. One of her artworks is going to be used for the front cover design of his latest book, and he and Soo-jin later come to have a little private conversation on her art, which becomes a bit more serious than expected.

In case of In-joo (Jung Bo-ram), she is also an artist, and we come to gather that she has a crush on Soo-jin’s boyfriend. As she is preparing for the upcoming exhibition of her latest artworks, In-joo is notified that she has a rather serious medical problem in her ovary, and that leads to a rather amusing moment when she happens to lie to others that she does not have much time to live. Although she has several chances to tell the truth, she chooses not to tell instead, and that results in more misunderstanding among her friends.

The third woman in the story is Yoo-jeong (Jung Hoe-rin), an aspiring actress who once had a relationship with Soo-jin’s boyfriend. We see her going through a little performance along with several performers in front of a group of people, and then we observe how things are not so good between her and her current boyfriend. It is clear that they do not communicate well with each other, and that makes Yoo-jeong think more about her ex-boyfriend, though she still loves and cares about her current boyfriend despite some small flaws of his.

As these three women’s story are intercut with each other on the non-linear narrative of the movie, there come several recurring elements to notice. There is a black dog which somehow appears here and there throughout the story for no apparent reason. And there is also the studio of a male artist who may be the one involved with all of these three women. In-joo and several other colleagues of his often spend some time together in this dude’s studio, and they talk a lot with each other, but he simply remains quiet in the background instead of joining their conversation.

Because its overall mood is quite dry and mundane, the movie surely requires a lot of patience from you, and I must confess that I felt impatient more than once while struggling to follow its frequently baffling plot and distant characters during its first hour. As the camera usually observes the characters from the distance, we never get to know that much about them, and they remain more or less than plot elements to be juggled in one way or another.

At least, the screenplay by director/writer Jo Hee-young, who previously made a feature film debut with “The Continuing Land” (2022), begins to reveal more of its big picture of confusion and elusiveness during its second half, and we get a number of little interesting moments to observe. When Soo-jin happens to learn about what that writer has been doing behind his back, she naturally becomes quite angry, and this eventually leads to a painfully comic moment of embarrassment not so far from the works of Hong Sang-soo. As she prepares more on her upcoming exhibition, In-joo gets some unexpected artistic inspiration, and you may get amused by one of her artworks shown at the very end of the film. While she finds herself occasionally haunted by the memories of her ex-boyfriend, Yoo-jeong keeps going as usual, and there comes a small sign of hope when she receives a sincere text message from her current boyfriend around the end of the story.

Around the narrative point where it shows a bit more about Soo-jin’s boyfriend, the movie baffles us more than before, and we come to reflect more on the rest of the story, but, again, the film adamantly refuses to give any clear answer at all. All we can know is that Soo-jin and the other two women in the story will probably go on with their respective lives – and that Soo-jin’s boyfriend will remain as a distant figure to all of them as before.

I appreciate the good efforts from the three principal actresses of the movie. Gong Min-jung, Jung Bo-ram, and Jung Hoe-rin ably bring some life and personality to their respective roles, and their solid performances hold the film together even when it seems to be going nowhere at times. They are also supported well by several other main cast members including Ryu Se-il, Yu Eui-tae, Kim Hee-sang, Lee Jin-ha, Yang Eui-jin, and Ahn Ah-reum, and the special mention goes to Kam Dong-hwan, whose mostly silent appearance often speaks volumes without drawing too much attention from us.

Overall, “Merely Known as Something Else” did not engage me enough, but I admire its mood, storytelling, and performance to some degree at least. Although I have not watched “The Continuing Land” yet, I can tell you instead that Jo demonstrates here that she is a promising filmmaker with a distinctive artistic voice of her own, and she may interest me more with whatever she will make next.