Left-Handed Girl (2025) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Her left hand

Posted on November 14, 2025 by kaist455

“Left-Handed Girl” is a little but superlative coming-of-drama to admire and cherish. Mostly sticking to the innocent viewpoint of its young heroine, the movie gradually immerses us into her small world along its free-flowing narrative, and it alternatively amuses and touches us as we get to know more about her and several figures around her.

The movie, which is set in Taipei, Taiwan, opens with the arrival of a young girl named I-Jing (Nina Ye) and her two close family members in the city. Her single mother Shu-fen (Janei Tsai) wants to have a new start for not only her but also I-Jing and her older sister I-Ann (Shih-Yuan Ma), but things do not look that optimistic for them to say the least. For example, their residence in the city looks quite stuffy and shabby, and it later turns out that Shu-fen borrows a considerable amount of money from her mother for moving into this residence. She tries to run a small restaurant in a nearby marketplace, but her and her family’s economic situation is not improved a lot despite her hard efforts.

Meanwhile, I-Ann gets a part-time job at a place where she handles an illegal drug business under some seedy dude. While her mother does not ask her too much because they need any kind of income right now, I-Ann does not tell her mother at all about having an affair with her boss behind her back, and we sense a trouble when he later hires some other young woman to assist I-Ann

Understandably, I-Jing does not know well how much her mother and older sister struggle to earn their living day by day, and the movie often observes her doing her little exploration around the marketplace. As the camera of cinematographers Ko-Chin Chen and Tzu-Hao Kao closely follows her, the movie fills the screen with a considerable amount of verisimilitude, and we often feel like a fellow explorer of our little heroine.

And then there comes a little internal conflict for I-Jing. When she is notified that her ex-husband is dying, Shu-Fen decides to see him again regardless of however she feels about him now, so I-Jing comes to spend a few days with Shu-Fen’s parents. The grandmother is fairly nice to I-Jing, but the grandfather is not so interested in befriending her, and, just because of an old superstition, he does not approve that much of her being left-handed.       

When he subsequently tells her about that superstition, I-Jing comes to regard her left hand as something evil, and that prompts her to commit a little transgression. As trying to use her left hand as little as possible, she also begins to steal small stuffs with her left hand here and there in the marketplace, and she comes to believe more of what her grandfather told her.

And we see more of how her mother and older sister are often too occupied with their respective issues to cope with. After her ex-husband eventually dies, Shu-Fen chooses to pay for his funeral just because he has been penniless, even though this choice of hers is going to bring another financial burden upon her. She asks for more financial help from her family members, but her mother and sisters are not so willing to do that just because of a petty reason associated with patriarchy.  

In case of I-Ann, she later comes to realize how unreliable her boss is, and that is followed by several intense moments including a brief but painful scene where she makes a hard choice for herself. Again, she does not tell anything to her mother, and they become more distant to each other without noticing I-Jing’s growing problem. 

While never overlooking the harsh reality surrounding its main characters, the movie also shows some sense of humor at times. In case of one particular scene involved with a pet animal given to I-Jing, some of you may wince a lot, but then you will also probably be tickled a bit by what follows next. When I-Jing decides to steal something very important later in the story, the mood becomes a little more tense, but then there comes a humorous plot turn to amuse you. 

After carefully establishing and then developing its main characters along the story, the movie throws an unexpected dramatic moment of surprise and revelation during its last act, but this does not feel jarring at all, while also making us look back more on what has been shown to us up to that point. In the end, we come to discern more of the complicated relationships among its three main characters, and that makes the very last scent of the film quite poignant.   

Director/co-writer/co-producer Shih-Ching Tsou draws stellar performances from her main cast members. While young actress Nina Ye’s unadorned natural performance holds the center, Janel Tsai and Shih-Yuan Ma have each own moment to shine around Ye, and Brando Huang provides extra warmth and humor as a vivacious shop owner who genuinely cares a lot about Shu-Fen’s economic struggle.  

On the whole, “Left-Handed Girl” is a commendable solo work from Tsou, who has been mainly known for her close collaborations with her co-writer/co-producer/editor Sean Baker in several acclaimed works including “Take Out” (2004). She demonstrates here that she is a talented filmmaker to watch just like Baker, and it will be interesting to see how much she will advance further from this impressive starting point.

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The Crow (1994) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): “It can’t rain all the time”

Posted on November 12, 2025 by kaist455

Alex Proyas’ 1994 film “The Crow” is a darkly compelling comic book movie full of style, mood, and details to be appreciated. While it has been mainly remembered as the last film of its ill-fated lead actor, the movie exudes its palpably moody visual power across the screen even after more than 30 years, and this is an exemplary example of how a comic book movie can be both dark and interesting.

The story is set in Detroit, Michigan, but I must say that the city in the movie looks more like a lovechild between Tim Burton’s “Batman” (1989) and David Fincher’s “Seven” (1995). Under the stark night sky, those shabby buildings in the city often look and feel quite seedy and ominous in their dark appearance, and the gloomy atmosphere surrounding them is further accentuated by the frequent rain poured from the sky.

In this rather hellish urban environment riddled with a lot of crime and poverty, there was a young couple who tragically died on the day before their wedding day, which was incidentally Halloween. Just because his fiancée stood against some unfair treatment against them and several other tenants in their apartment building, Eric Draven (Brandon Lee), who was a promising young rock band leader, was brutally murdered along with his fiancée, and their unjust death certainly shocked many of their neighbors including a young girl who was very close to them.

One year later, something unbelievable happens. Via some supernatural power associated with a mysterious crow, Draven returns from death, and we see how he gradually remembers not only who he was but also how he died along with his fiancée. Needless to say, he soon becomes quite vengeful to say the least, and then we soon see him trying a bit of white clownish makeup on his face, which surely makes him look a bit like Batman’s infamous arch-nemesis.   

His main targets are those four thugs directly responsible for his and his fiancée’s death. As he eliminates these deplorable criminals one by one thanks to his considerable superpower, Draven comes to draw the attention of Top Dollar (Michael Wincott), a powerful and ruthless crime lord who has virtually had Draven’s neighborhood under his control. It goes without saying that Top Dollar is not very amused by the trouble caused by Draven, and he is certainly quite determined to take care of the latest problem in his area.

Meanwhile, the movie provides a bit of warmth as also focusing on that young girl and Sergeant Albrecht (Ernie Hudson), a veteran police officer who also knew well Draven and his fiancée before their death. After respectively coming to learn about Draven’s miraculous return, both of them get themselves involved more with Draven’s quest for vengeance later in the story, and we come to brace for ourselves when the girl is held as a hostage later in the story (Is this a spoiler?).

As its main characters roll toward the expected climax, the movie, which is based on the comic book series of the same name by James O’Barr, gets itself more drenched in its strikingly noirish ambiance coupled with some Gothic touches, and cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, who would move onto a series of notable works including Proyas’ very next film “Dark City” (1998), provides a number of impressive moments to linger on your mind for their strong visual qualities. We get thrilled whenever that crow, which often serves as another pair of eyes for Draven along the story, sweeps around many dark buildings in the city, and the movie also provides a fair share of well-executed action scenes to excite us more (Chad Stahelski, who would be more prominent as the director of “John Wick” (2014), works as one of the stunt performers in the film, by the way). In addition, a number of rock songs are effectively utilized during several key scenes in the movie, and these songs are flawlessly mingled with Graeme Revell’s tense electronic score on the soundtrack.   

Because of Bradon Lee’s very unfortunate death on the set which occurred not long before the end of its shooting period, the movie drew a lot of attention even before it was completed. Although Proyas and his crew had to depend on stunt double and digital special effects to a considerable degree, the result still does not look that awkward on the whole, though you may sense some few gaps and holes in the overall narrative flow.

Anyway, Lee, who is incidentally the son of Bruce Lee, demonstrates here that he had enough presence and potential, and he could actually have become a solid action movie actor after this movie. He also did a good job of bringing harrowing poignancy to his character as well as the story, and his charismatic acting comes to function as the darkly pulsating heart of the story.

Just like any other stylish comic book movies, the movie depends a lot on broad but colorful archetypes for generating some humor and fun, and a number of good performers surrounding Lee ably fill their respective spots. Michael Wincott, Jon Polito, Tony Todd, Bai Ling, and Ernie Hudson are certainly dependable as expected, and Wincott, who recently delighted us in Jordan Peele’s “Nope” (2022), has some understated fun with his insidious villain character.

In conclusion, “The Crow” is one of the better comic book movies of the 1990s in addition to being one of a few highlights in Proyas’ filmmaking career. Sadly, he has never surpassed what he achieved so brilliantly in “The Crow” and “Dark City”, but both of them have endured the test of time as wonderful cult films to be savored at least. Although I think is “Dark City” is better as a great film, “The Crow” also deserves some attention, and I am glad to report to you that it becomes timeless enough instead of becoming old and dated.

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Bugonia (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): A nasty and clinical remake by Yorgos Lanthimos

Posted on November 12, 2025 by kaist455

Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest film “Bugonia”, the American remake of South Korean cult film “Save the Green Planet!” (2003), is as nasty and clinical as you can expect from his work. While trying to push its darkly absurd story premise as much as possible, the movie often jolts or shocks us with a fair share of disturbing violence and barbarity, and it is surely another deeply uncomfortable but undeniably distinctive genre piece from Lanthimos.

Right from the beginning, the movie does not hide at all how unhinged and unstable its hero is. Teddy Gatz (Jesse Plemons) is a young beekeeper who is also your average conspiracy theory-obsessed paranoid, and the opening part shows him planning a kidnapping plan along with his intellectually-disabled cousin Don (Aidan Delbis). Their target is the female CEO of a major pharmaceutical company, and Gatz has strongly believed that this figure is actually an alien in disguise.

After she is eventually kidnapped and then taken to the basement of Gatz’s house, Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone) soon comes to realize how impossible her situation is. No matter how much she tries to convince Gatz that she is not an alien, Gatz is quite adamant in his loony conviction, and their first conversation is naturally going nowhere, while Don becomes more uncomfortable about what is going on between his cousin and Fuller. He sincerely wants to help his cousin as much as possible, but he is still not so sure about whether his cousin is really right about Fuller.

As Gatz goes further with his crazy plan, the movie delivers a number of darkly absurd moments which are also very unnerving. For example, he gets Fuller’s head shaved just because he thinks her alien race can transmit signals via hair. In addition, he also has her body constantly covered with hand cream for lessening her psychic power somehow, and that surely makes her look as white and pale as the vampires in those Twilight flicks.

This is not so far from William Wyler’s classic thriller film “The Collector” (1965) and many other similar flicks out there, but Lanthimos and screenplay writer Will Tracy try to dial down the sexually disturbing aspects of the story setting as much as possible, and they did that with some extra black humor. Sure, it is not so pleasant to watch a woman held in captivity by two men, but Tracy’s screenplay blocks any possibility of sexual tension between Gatz and Fuller right from the start in a rather amusing way. In addition, the situation becomes more ambiguous as there comes some reasonable doubt on whether Gatz is really wrong about Fuller’s identity.

And the movie also lets us sense more of how pathetic and desperate its hero really is. He does reveal a lot about himself, but it is apparent that Gatz’s life has been quite unhappy and miserable for years, and we are not so surprised when it is revealed later that kidnapping Fuller is just his latest drastic attempt to fix his damaged life.

As Gatz’s state of mind goes up and down along its plot, the movie frequently accentuates his warped and isolated reality, and Lanthimos and his crew often have some naughty fun with that. As cinematographer Robbie Ryan’s camera steadily imbues the screen with clinical atmosphere, the score by Jerskin Fendrix sometimes becomes quite overblown as blatantly underlining Gatz’s frequent mood swings, and you may also be amused a bit by the recurring image associated with a certain nutty conspiracy theory.

I must point out that the movie stumbles more than once during its last act as heading to its eventual finale, but I appreciate how it presents the finale with a bit more edginess compared to the original South Korean version. As watching this part, I am reminded again that 1) Lanthimos is sometimes as mean and misanthropic as some other European filmmakers such as Michael Haneke and 2) our species has looked incorrigibly unpleasant and horrible for many centuries despite showing some better sides from time to time.

The movie is supported well by the solid performances from its three main cast members. Jesse Plemons, who previously won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival thanks to his good performance in Lanthimos’ previous film “Kinds of Kindness” (2023), did an effortless job of balancing his deeply troubled character between pathos and madness, and his excellent acting is matched well by another fearless work from Emma Stone, who has steadily collaborated with Lanthimos since “The Favourite” (2018) and recently won her second Best Actress Oscar for “Poor Things” (2024). Between Stone and Plemons, Aidan Delbis holds his own small spot well, and he is especially effective when Don becomes all the more conflicted about what he really should do later in the story.

In conclusion, “Bugonia” is definitely not something you can casually watch, but I recommend it mainly for its skillful direction and good performance. Although the overall result does not surpass the oddball sensibility of the original South Korean version, I admire how Lanthimos brings his own style and touch to the remake version, and I think he had a fairly productive time as giving us no less than three distinctive works in row during last three years. I heard that he is planning to have a long rest now, and I guess we can all agree that he deserves that.

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1980 Sabuk (2025) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): It’s still painful for them…

Posted on November 11, 2025 by kaist455

South Korean documentary film “1980 Sabuk” is about one large-scale labor uprising which happened in one little rural coal mine town in April 1980. Although the incident is almost forgotten at present, there are still many people who remember well what happened at that time, and the documentary focuses on their painful past as patiently presenting its big picture of systemic violence and injustice.

The documentary mainly revolves around the personal research on the incident by a friend of director Park Bong-nam. His friend is the son of a coal miner who worked in the big coal mine in Sabuk, Jeongseon County, Gangwon Province during the 1970-80s, and the documentary consists of the testimonies from various interviewees approached by him and Park during the production of the documentary.

At first, we get some background knowledge on that big coal mine in Sabuk, which was incidentally one of the largest ones in South Korea during its peak period. In this coal mine, around 3,000 coal miners worked day by day, but their working and living conditions were pretty poor to say the least. Besides not getting paid enough for their mostly relentless labor accompanied with a lot of risk and danger, they were mistreated a lot inside and outside their coal mine, but their employer did not do anything to improve their living and working conditions at all, even while earning a lot of money thanks to its greedy labor exploitation.

They did have a local union at that time, but the union and its leader, who had occupied his position for a fairly long time, were not exactly helpful to them, and that made them all the more frustrated and exasperated. In the end, there came a breaking point not long after that union leader got unfairly elected again, and many of the coal miners decided to fight against not only their employer but also the local police as defiantly shutting down their coal mine.

Via several interviewees who worked there at that time, the documentary tells us how volatile their situation was. They and many other coal miners clashed a lot with a bunch of policemen sent there for suppressing the uprising, and the consequence of this clash was quite devastating. As many coal miners violently tried to stop those policemen from entering their coal mine, many of the policemen were seriously injured, and one of them actually died. At one point in the documentary, an old man who was incidentally one of these policemen still vividly remembers that chaotically violent moment, and you can sense how traumatic it still is for him, though, as a guy who was also the son of a coal miner, he also understands well how desperate the coal miners were at that time.

Shortly after this serious clash between the coal miners and the local police, the South Korean government became more willing to squash the uprising by any means necessary, and the timing was not so good for the coal miners to say the least. When President Park Chung-hee was killed in October 1979, it initially seemed that the South Korean society would have a belated chance for democratization after many years of military dictatorship, but there soon came another military dictator who took over the South Korean government via his swift coup d’état a few months later, and this deplorable figure certainly did not welcome the uprising at all.

Thanks to the sincere efforts from the governor of Gangwon Province, the coal miners managed to get their several demands accepted after some negotiation a few days later, and their coal mine soon got back in business, but then, not so surprisingly, there came the brutal retaliation from the local police and the South Korean government. During next several weeks, those soldiers and policemen took away any person possibly associated with the uprising in one way or another, and those arrested coal miners and town people had to endure a lot of barbaric torture inside the local police station.

A number of survivors of this grim and horrific period phlegmatically talk about their respective experiences of torture, and their testimonies are quite harrowing to say the least. As they got cruelly tortured a lot, they were forced to say whatever their torturers wanted before eventually getting imprisoned during several years, and their minds and bodies are still reeling from what they had to endure during that time.

The documentary also pays some attention to many female employees and town people who were also tortured during that time. In case of one old lady, the documentary later presents a devastating testimony video clip of hers, and it is sad to see that she never received any official apology from the South Korean government or the local police before her death in 2019.

And there is also the wife of that union leader, who was unfortunately lynched and then held as a hostage by the coal miners during the uprising. From the coal miners’ viewpoint, her husband was responsible for what caused the uprising to some degree, but it is inarguable that she is also a victim as much as many other coal miners and town people, and you will empathize with her two sons as they bitterly and angrily talk about how much their family was devastated by the uprising and its following consequence. As briefly and sharply pointed out around the end of the documentary, the employer and the South Korean government are the ones truly responsible for all those enormous human pains and torments during the uprising and its aftermath, but neither of them has given any public apology yet even at this point.

On the whole, “1980 Sabuk” is a modest but powerful documentary which did a commendable job of illuminating another hidden part of the South Korean labor history during the late 20th century. Now Sabuk is just a small plain rural town after its coal mine was eventually shut down in 2004, but the documentary vividly shows us how its painful history remains quite alive with the survivors of the uprising even at this point, and that will surely lead you to some serious thoughts after it is over. In short, this is one of the best South Korean documentaries of this year, and I sincerely recommend you not to miss a chance to watch this haunting documentary.

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Bird (2024) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): One feisty girl and her birdy friend

Posted on November 10, 2025 by kaist455

“Bird” is another raw coming-of-age drama from Andrea Arnold, who previously gave us “Fish Tank” (2008) and “American Honey” (2016). Closely following its young heroine’s small and big struggles, the movie presents a rough but vivid slice of life which engages and then touches us more than expected, and we do not mind at all even when it tries a bit of magic realism later.

At the beginning, the movie quickly establishes the shabby daily life of Bailey (Nykiya Adams), a 12-year-old girl living with her young father Bug (Barry Keoghan) and her older half-brother Hunter (Jason Buda). While he is your average working-class bum, Bug has a little business plan which looks rather outrageous to say the least, and he is also planning to marry his current girlfriend Kayleigh (Frankie Box), who incidentally comes with her little daughter.

Not so surprisingly, Bailey does not like his father’s upcoming marriage at all, and she clashes a bit with Bug on a little matter involved with his wedding ceremony. Feeling quite suffocated and frustrated with her daily life, she becomes more interested in a little vigilante activity involved with her older half-brother, but Hunter does not let her participate in that activity because, after all, she is still too young for that.

Feeling more alienated and lonelier than before, Baliely comes to spend the following night in a field outside her neighborhood, and that is how she comes to encounter an odd guy who simply introduces himself as “Bird” (Franz Rogowski). He has been looking for his parents he lost many years ago even though he does not remember much about them, and Bailey decides to help this weird guy even though he is a total stranger to her from the start.

As she gets more involved with Bird, Bailey notices more of how strange he is. While he does not talk much about his past except his lost parents, he also shows some weird behaviors which are not so far from what we usually observe from birds, and that makes Baliey all the more curious about him. As a fellow loner, she cannot help but become more sympathetic to him, and Bird seems to appreciate her help and support as revealing more of a wounded child behind his distant attitude.

These two different main characters’ growing relationship certainly feels unconventional. Despite their considerable age gap, they become more aware of something common between them, and Bailey becomes more determined to help her unexpected friend even though she is burdened with several other issues besides her father’s upcoming wedding. When she visits her mother for getting more information about Bird’s parents, she sees how her mother and her half-siblings have been quite miserable due to her mother’s current boyfriend. She seriously considers getting some help from her older half-brother and his fellow vigilantes, but Hunter happens to have a serious issue of his own to deal with right now.

Freely rolling its main characters from one narrative point to another, the movie immerses us more into the shabby working-class environment inhabited by its young heroine and many others around her, and Arnold and her crew members including cinematographer Robbie Ryan, who has steadily collaborated with her since her first feature film “Red Road” (2006), did a commendable job of bringing a lot of palpable sense of life to the film. Although it often feels quite shaky, Ryan’s handheld camera vividly and intimately captures the raw emotional intensity of several key dramatic scenes in the film, and that makes us all the more engaged in our young heroine’s drama.

By the way, you will probably be caught off guard by what happens during its last act due to a sudden dose of magic realism. It may feel a bit too jarring at first, but this unexpected moment somehow works thanks to what has been established so realistically up to that point, and it is also touching to observe how this part leads the story and its young heroine toward a bit of genuine hope and optimism during the following ending.

As usual, Andrea draws an impressive natural performance from her lead actress. Although she did not have any movie acting experience before this film, Nykiya Adams ably holds the center with her unforgettable performance while demonstrating considerable potential here as another new talented actress to watch, and she is also supported well by several good supporting performers. While Frankie Box, Jasmine Jobson, and Jason Buda are well-cast in their respective roles, Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski bring extra personality to the movie without overshadowing Adams at all, and both of them remind us again that they are two of the most reliable character actors in our time. Keoghan, to whom I have paid attention since I noticed his small but crucial supporting turn in Yann Demange’s “’71” (2014), effortlessly brings human qualities to his rather childish character, and Rogowski, who has seldom disappointed since his breakthrough turn in Michael Haneke’s “Happy End” (2017), is simply perfect for his role due to his own offbeat qualities.

On the whole, “Bird”, which belatedly came to South Korean theaters as “Bailey and Bird” on last Wednesday, is an excellent coming-of-age drama to be cherished for its vivid realism and several strong performances to watch. While being relatively less edgy than “Fish Tank” and “American Honey”, this is another terrific achievement from Arnold, and you will surely look forward to watching her next film after it is over.

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Isle of Snakes (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): On a strange and beautiful isle

Posted on November 9, 2025 by kaist455

South Korean independent film “Isle of Snakes”, which was released in local theaters a few years after it was premiered at the 2023 Busan International Film Festival, alternatively baffled and intrigued me. While simply starting with three broad characters stuck in one mysteriously isolated location, the movie often caught me off guard with a series of odd moments, but it also mesmerized me with a lot of mood and beauty to be savored. To be frank with you, I still have no idea on what it is exactly about, but I also admire how it is about nonetheless, and that makes the movie fairly interesting in my humble opinion.

Although it does not show or tell much about its setting, the movie gradually lets us gather its specific period background at the beginning. It is around the middle of the war between Korea and Japan in the late 16th century, and its three main characters are sailors who worked in a warship belonging to the Korean Navy. After their warship was sunken due to a typhoon, they find themselves stranded on a small, uninhabited island, and they have no choice but to wait for any possibility of rescue at least during next several days.

Fortunately for these three able-bodied seamen, the island is not barren at all. While they can get some supply of clean water to drink, they also can find several edible things including mushrooms and fish around the island. At one point in the story, a jar of alcohol is discovered by one of them, and that naturally leads to a little merry night among them.

And we get to know a bit about these three dudes. While Chang-ryong (Kim Ki-tae) is an artilleryman, Mong-hwi (Lee Sang-hoon) is a rower, and Kkeock-soe, who is incidentally the youngest one in the bunch, is sometimes a bit too simple-minded in his behaviors. Needless to say, his foolish deeds annoy both Chang-ryong and Mong-hwi from time to time, and that leads to some amusing comic moments to tickle us.

However, Chang-ryong and Mong-hwi cannot help but become more despaired as being reminded again and again of how hopeless the situation is for them and Kkeock-soe. They keep trying to reach for any chance for rescue day by day, but they only find themselves still struggling in their continuing ennui. As observing how their conversations go nowhere in an increasingly repetitive pattern every day, you may be reminded of Samuel Beckett’s classic absurdist play “Waiting for Godot”. In fact, you will not be that surprised when they later find themselves getting quite confused about how long they have actually been stuck in the island.

Meanwhile, the movie also tries some surreal stuffs to flabbergast you for good reasons. Not long after the skeletal remains of some woman is found by Kkeok-soe, a number of strange things occur around him and his two colleagues, and it looks like they meddled with something disturbing in the island. At first, they are amused a bit just because of how things have been quite uneventful for them, but then they come to feel more that they need to get out of the island as soon as possible.

Although it never clarifies what is exactly hovering over the island, the movie continues to hold our attention with its vivid atmosphere filled with natural beauty to admire. Director/writer Kim Eu-min, who incidentally made a feature film debut here in this film, and his crew fill the screen with numerous stunning visual moments, and their vast scale often emphasizes the increasing sense of isolation surrounding the main characters in the film. Around the point where the story reveals a bit more of whatever is lurking inside the island, the movie goes for more surrealistic mood, and there is even an utterly phantasmagorical sequence clearly inspired by those Korean traditional lacquerwares decorated with mother-of-pearl.

Despite frequently being quite elusive and ambiguous, the movie also shows a surprising amount of lightweight humor along the story – especially in case of several key scenes involved with Kkeok-seo, who somehow reminds me of that weird boy in Cormac McCarthy’s novel “Suttree”. Due to his careless handling of his toenails, something quite weird happens to him later, and you will enjoy how the movie pushes his situation further for more amusement.

The main cast members keep their acting straight while also sounding fairly convincing in their dialogues, which are heavily ridden with old dialects (The movie thankfully provides the subtitle for me and other South Korean audiences, by the way). While Lee Chung-bin is certainly the showiest member in the bunch, Kim Ki-tae and Lee Sang-hoon are equally solid in their respective parts, and the comic chemistry between these three good actors is one of the main reasons why the movie can engage us to the end. As another substantial part of the film, Jeon Hee-hyeon has a little fun during one particular scene where she plays three different figures at once, and her solid performance adds some spookiness to the story.

In conclusion, “Isle of Snakes” is a rather challenging arthouse film, but it is filled with enough style, mood, and humor for keeping us interested up to its finishing point. Even at this point, I am not totally sure about a lot of things in the movie, but it was a fairly interesting experience, and I think it is more successful than “Esper’s Light” (2024), another recent South Korean film which also baffled me a lot. While the latter left me feeling rather empty and hollow in the end, the former left me feeling somehow satisfied and entertained enough, and I am already willing to revisit it for admiring more of how it is about.

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404 Still Remain (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): As they share their favorite Japanese pop songs

Posted on November 9, 2025 by kaist455

South Korean independent film “404 Still Remain” made me feel a bit nostalgic for good reasons. Set in early 2000s, this little coming-of-age drama movie is filled with the period details to notice here and there, and I can tell you that it did a fairly good job on the whole. In addition, the emotional struggles of its two main characters resonated a lot with me because I was a repressed gay boy just like them around that time, and I must tell you that there are several moments which came particularly close to me.

The movie opens with the arrival of a high school student named Kyeong-hwan (Sim Hyun-seo) and his parents in Daegu, one of the big local cities in South Korea. He and his parents moved from some rural town just because of some better business opportunity for both of his parents, and we soon see him starting his first day at his new school.

Needless to say, Kyeong-hwan feels quite awkward among his new classmates, but then he receives some help and support from Jae-min (Hyeon Woo-seok), the popular class president who happens to sit right next to him. Mainly thanks to their enthusiasm on Japanese pop songs, they instantly befriend each other, and they come to spend more time with each other as sharing a lot of Japanese pop songs between them via Kyeong-hwan’s MP3 player (Are you old enough to remember what it is, by the way?).

Meanwhile, they and many other classmates of theirs have to prepare a lot for the college entrance examination as usual, and Kyeong-hwan soon comes to distinguish himself a lot as becoming the No.1 student of the class. As a result, he becomes a little more popular in his class than before, and Jae-min does not seem to mind this at all even though he has been frequently pressured by his mother to excel himself.

As getting closer to Jae-min more and more, Kyeong-hwan finds himself quite attracted to Jae-min. It later turns out that he had a little trouble due to his homosexuality before moving to Daegu, and that makes him very hesitant about revealing himself more to Jae-min, but it seems that Jae-min likes Kyeong-hwan more than he can admit on the surface. For example, he often touches Kyeong-hwan a lot, and this looks like a merely friendly gesture, but Kyeong-hwan comes to wonder more about whether Jae-min has actually repressed himself just like he has for years.

While Kyeong-tae remains conflicted about his relationship with Jae-min, the screenplay by director/writer Uhm Ha-neul, who incidentally made a feature film debut here in this film, doles out one episodic moment after another for more plot and character development. We get to know a bit about some of Kyeong-hwan’s classmates, and then we also observe how his parents’ marriage crumbles for some unspecified reason. In the end, his father leaves after the divorce, and his mother has to support her and her son alone by herself, but then there comes a big trouble for her and her fellow merchants in the neighborhood.

It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that Kyeong-hwan eventually shows Jae-min his romantic feelings toward him later in the story, and you will not be surprised that much by the following consequence Kyeong-hwan has to deal with. Jae-min suddenly becomes quite distant to him, and Kyeong-hwan also finds himself frequently bullied and ostracized by many of his classmates once the gossip about his homosexuality is spread around his class.

While there are several heavy-handed moments involved with your typical homophobia, the movie handles Kyeong-hwan’s emotional struggle with enough care and sensitivity at least. There is a little touching scene after Kyeong-hwan finally reveals his homosexuality to his mother, and then there is also a powerful moment as Kyeong-hwan listens to Jae-min’s favorite Japanese pop song and then comes to sense and understand more of whatever Jae-min is holding behind his back. In case of the epilogue part, it feels rather redundant at first, but then there comes an unexpected moment of poignancy which will linger on your mind for a while after the movie is over.

The movie certainly depends a lot on the good chemistry between its two lead performers. Besides looking young enough on the screen, Sim Hyun-seo and Hyeon Woo-seok are believable in their characters’ relationship development along the story, and Shim is particularly harrowing when his character must endure a lot just because of being honest to himself. On the opposite, Hyeon effectively complements his co-star via his more subdued acting, which often speaks volumes even though his character does not seem to signify much on the surface. In case of several substantial supporting performers, Gong Min-jung has a few good scenes to notice as Kyeong-hwan’s struggling mother, and On Joo-wan makes a brief appearance around the end of the story.

In conclusion, “404 Still Remain”, whose title is derived from a certain Internet message with which many of you are quite familiar, is an engaging high school drama to be appreciated for mood, storytelling, and performance. Along with two recent South Korean films “3670” (2025) and “Homeward Bound” (2025), this is another notable South Korean queer film of this year, and I sincerely hope that it will bring some comfort and support to many sexual minority adolescent kids out there in the South Korean society.

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Esper’s Light (2024) ☆☆(2/4): Their little online fantasy world

Posted on November 9, 2025 by kaist455

 In my inconsequential opinion, I am not an ideal audience for South Korean independent film “Esper’s Light”. While it is probably one of the most singular South Korean films of this year, I often felt distant and confused for more than 2 hours, and that impression of mine does not go away even after I later learned more about what and how it is about.

The movie consists of three different science fiction fantasy stories which, as far as I remember, are connected with each other to some degree. At the beginning of the first story, it is explained to us that a bunch of boys and girls happen to be pursued by the government due to their special powers, and the opening scene shows some of them hiding inside their safe house while being helped a bit by some other boy.

The plot thickens when their safe house is not safe anymore. They have to run away as soon as possible, and there are several options for them. While some of them go to several other remote spots which may be safer from the ongoing pursuit of the government, others go to an underground tunnel which eventually leads them to a futuristic city. Needless to say, the government continues to chase after them as usual, and we soon see some of them captured or cornered by the government agents.

Now the movie feels like your average tabletop role-playing games (TRPG) such as, yes, “Dungeons & Dragons”. As a matter of fact, director Jung Jae-hoon wrote the screenplay along with a bunch of adolescent kids who are the members of an online TRPG community on Twitter (It now becomes “X”, you know), and the movie alternates between their stories and the documentary footage clips of these young writers. Whenever the story comes upon a conflict or crisis under the guidance of their story master, they instantly respond to that via their smartphones, and then the story advances more via their imagination and storytelling skill.

I am not sure whether their writing is really good, but the movie tries to convey their enthusiasm to us via its modest cinematic ways. Whenever the mood gets weird or tense, the soundtrack is naturally filled with odd sound effects while the screen is packed with a lot of light and shadow. Besides often baffling us a lot, the overall result surely covers up the production budget limit of the movie to some degree, and you may appreciate some nice creative visual touches shown from the screen.

In case of the second story, it is simply set in some isolated background occupied by several adolescent characters who are your average fantasy archetypes. Just like the main characters of the first story, they have each own superpower, and the story mainly revolves around one girl who must protect a certain precious object despite a lot of pain inflicted upon her because of that.

We see how several other characters try to handle her problem as she screams very, very, very loud in her continuing agony, but the story is unfortunately deficient in many aspects just like the first one. For instance, we never get to know that much about its main characters and their motives, and the story is also quite murky and confusing about its rules and conditions as it is handed from one community member to another.

The third story is probably the best one in the bunch, mainly because it is a bit more dramatic compared to the two other stories. The four android robots are sent to a remote island where some four young girls have lived together without anyone else, and the robots soon come to discover that there is something magical in the island. As a matter of fact, it is so special that some of the robots cannot help but become emotional along the story, and that naturally leads to a big conflict in the story.

What eventually happens at the end of the story will not surprise you that much, but you will be more aware of those young community members behind the story. From time to time, the movie shows these kids going through their respective daily lives, and we observe how serious they are about the story and characters created by them day by day.

However, the movie does not delve much into who these young community members are, and that is the main reason why it feels too superficial at times. Yes, their stories are understandably clumsy at times, and I am totally fine with that, but the movie does not share their interest and enthusiasm with us that much. Without enough emotional ground to support their stories, the movie ultimately becomes a merely shallow exercise in style, and that makes us all the more distant to whatever is being presented on the screen. 

On the whole, “Esper’s Light” did not intrigue or stimulate my mind enough for recommendation. Yes, my mind kept going somewhere else when I watched it yesterday, but this is a distinctive cinematic experiment which deserves some admiration, and you will probably appreciate it more if you have ever had any TRPG experience (Full disclosure: I haven’t). Considering that it will not be released on video on demand (VOD), maybe you should check it out if you are a serious movie fan like me, but please be aware of what and how it is about in advance.

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The Woman in the White Car (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): A little chilly female mystery thriller

Posted on November 7, 2025 by kaist455

South Korean film “The Woman in the White Car” is a little female mystery thriller with chilly sensitivity to be savored. While you may easily guess what it is about right from the very beginning, the movie will gradually engage and then surprise you as slowly delving into its main characters’ emotional struggles along the story, and you will eventually find yourself alternatively chilled and touched by how it is about. 

The movie, which is set in some rural mountain region in the middle of one snowy winter, opens with a sudden disturbing incident. A car quickly arrives at a local hospital, and one of the two figures inside the car hurriedly comes out and then desperately cries for help. It turns out that the other figure in the car is in the serious need of medical treatment due to a severe physical injury, and we soon see this figure quickly taken into the hospital for emergency surgery.  

The two local police officers, Hyeon-joo (Lee Jung-eun) and her rookie partner Yong-jae (Lee Hwi-jong), subsequently arrive at the hospital for the following investigation, but then they are quite baffled about what exactly happened. On the surface, it seems that those two figures in question are Do-kyeong (Jung Ryeo-won) and her older sister, but then it is revealed that the injured woman brought by Do-kyeong is clearly not his older sister. After all, her older sister once worked as a nurse at the hospital, and her older sister’s former colleagues do not know at all who the hell that injured woman is.  

Do-kyeong claims that her “older sister” was actually stabbed by her husband, and the movie gives us a flashback scene showing how that occurred. According to Do-kyeong, her older sister’s husband was pretty nasty and abusive to say the least, and she testifies to the police officers that her older sister happened to be injured in the middle of a violent physical clash between them and that loathsome dude. 

However, Hyeon-joo is skeptical about Do-kyeong’s testimony for good reasons. Although she was once a promising young novelist who was also quite successful, Do-kyeong was put under her older sister’s care due to a serious mental problem not long after losing their parents, and this certainly makes her testimony rather unreliable. In addition, her “older sister” has been unconscious after her emergency surgery while her husband is currently gone missing, so there is no one to confirm whether Do-kyeong told the truth or not.

As a woman still haunted by those painful memories of abuse in her past, Hyeon-joo instinctively senses how damaged and traumatized Do-kyeong really is. Her instant sympathy toward Do-kyeong makes Hyeon-joo all the more determined about finding what really happened to Do-kyeong, but then she only encounters more baffling questions about the case. For example, it later turns out that Do-kyeong’s real older sister was not actually living with Do-kyeong, and she was somehow disappeared not long before Do-kyeong came to the hospital along with that mysterious woman.

While she comes to sense more of how fishy her case is in many aspects, Hyeon-joo also begins to reflect more on her dark past from which she is still reeling. She was frequently abused by her alcoholic father who often exerts some toxic influence on her even at present, and there is an unnerving moment showing how she tries to calm herself in a way not so far from what her father often did to her during that time.

What is eventually revealed during the last act is a bit too contrived in my humble opinion, but the screenplay by Seo Ja-yeon keeps holding our attention via focusing on the subtle emotional drama unfolded between Hyeon-joo and Do-kyeong. Although she often looks rather elusive, it is apparent that Do-kyeong is struggling with whatever she is hiding behind her back, and there is a little poignant moment when she chooses to open herself a bit more to Hyeon-joo later in the story.    

The movie is carried well by the solid performances from its two wonderful main cast members. While often looking as distant and baffling as required, Jung Ryeo-won skillfully handles her several key scenes in the film, and her ambiguous presence is contrasted well with the more straightforward acting of Lee Jung-eun, who has been one of the most dependable character actresses in South Korean cinema since her breakthrough supporting turn in Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning film “Parasite” (2019). Even when the movie stumbles a bit with some preposterous plot turns, Jung and Lee hold it together to the end, and they are also supported well by several other main cast members including Jang Jin-hee, Kang Jun-woo, Lee Hwi-jong and Kim Jung-min.  

In conclusion, “The Woman in the White Car”, which received considerable attention when it was shown at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in 2022 (Jung received the Korean Fantastic Best Actress Award, for instance) but then was belatedly released in South Korean theaters on last Wednesday, is a competent genre film, and I enjoyed how it distinguishes itself via its good mood, storytelling, and performance. Although she has been mainly directing a number of local TV drama series episodes, director Christine Ko shows here that she is a promising filmmaker with some potential, and it will be interesting to see what may come next after this commendable feature film debut of hers.

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Predator: Badlands (2025) ☆☆☆(3/4): You will root for this alien lad a lot

Posted on November 7, 2025 by kaist455

“Predator: Badlands”, the latest installment from the Predator franchise, is another surprisingly solid piece of entertainment to admire and enjoy. Like its two recent predecessors “Prey” (2022) and “Predator: Killer of Killers” (2025), the movie tries some refreshing and interesting variations with what has been so familiar to us for years, and the overall result is successful enough to bring more energy and spirit to the franchise.

At the beginning, we are introduced to Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), a young Predator who has been eager to prove himself although he is relatively more imposing than many of his clan members including his father. Despite his earnest efforts, his father, who is incidentally the chief of their clan, is already ready to eliminate him, but he manages to escape from his home planet at the last minute, and he eventually finds himself stranded in some other alien planet.

However, this alien planet is quite dangerous to say the least. There are many different creatures on the planet, and, as Dek soon comes to learn, most of them are pretty lethal as your average predators. In the end, he really needs someone to help him, and then he comes across Thia (Elle Fanning), a damaged android robot sent from the Earth. Although she lost the lower half of her body, Thia is fairly functional on the whole, and she is also willing to help Dek locating a certain local creature.

That local creature in question has been regarded as something quite challenging even for more experienced Predators like Dek’s father. Nevertheless, Dek is very determined to hunt and then kill it for proving himself, so he accepts Thia’s offer despite his initial reluctance. While Dek is often quite serious and rather humorless, Thia is programmed to be plucky and sensitive, and we are often amused by this humorous personality contrast of this mismatched duo – especially when they are later joined by a little creature which somehow looks both cute and ungainly.

As Dek and Thia continue their risky quest, the movie fills its alien world with vivid mood and details to observe and appreciate. While being reminiscent of James Cameron’s “Avatar” (2009) to some degree at times, the alien world of “Predator: Badlands” actually looks much richer than its subtitle suggests, and the movie often lets us get immersed more into its alien world whenever it is not on action mode. In addition, it also pays a lot of attention to the relationship development between its two very different main characters along the story, and it is poignant to observe how Dek comes to bond with his unexpected companion a lot more than he can admit.

Meanwhile, the situation becomes a bit more complicated as another main figure enters later in the story. That figure in question is Tessa, Thia’s twin android robot who is also played by Fanning. After being restored and reprogrammed by the supervising computer of that evil corporation in the Alien franchise, Tessa is ready to get their mission accomplished by any means necessary, and it goes without saying that she will eventually stand on Thia and Dek’s way.

During the last act, the movie provides a lot of action, and we are surely thrilled and excited as expected, but we also come to care more as the movie stays focused on what is going on among its main characters as before. Via his strained but meaningful relationship with Thia, Dek comes to learn that care and compassion are not a weakness at all, and we are not so surprised when he changes his mind after learning something about his hunting target.

The two lead performers are terrific as ably complementing each other from the beginning to the end. Although his acting is accompanied with a lot of CGI and voice manipulation, newcomer Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi brings enough physicality and personality to his character, and his strong performance here in this film is the main reason why the movie works as an engaging coming-of-age drama. On the opposite, Elle Fanning, who will impress us again in this year with her recent acclaimed supporting turn in Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value” (2025), has a lot of fun with swinging back and forth between her two opposing characters, and her compelling double performance always brings some extra charge to the movie.

The movie is directed by Dan Trachtenberg, who drew our attention with his first feature film “10 Cloverfield Lane” (2016) and then made “Prey” and “Predator: Killer of Killers”. While “Prey” unexpectedly brought some unexpected fresh air of change to the franchise, “Predator: Killer of Killers” generated more potential for the franchise as a stylish animation film, and both these two films and “Predator: Badlands” certainly show us together that Trachtenberg is a talented filmmaker willing to take a chance for going further with the franchise he clearly respects and loves.

In conclusion, “Predator: Badlands” is recommendable for not only its exciting action scenes but also its compelling storytelling coupled with enough mood and personality. As reflected by what is brief shown around its end credits, there will certainly be more Predator flicks during next several years, but the movie recharges the franchise as well as its two recent predecessors, and you may come to have more expectation after it is over. In short, this is one of the more enjoyable Hollywood blockbuster products of this year, and I assure you that you will root for this alien lad a lot.

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