FanFare

A company hopes to open a spa hotel named after Ieodo, a mythical island inhabited by the souls of drowned sailors. During a boat trip to promote the project, a journalist disappears under mysterious circumstances. One of the developers goes to Ieodo’s neighboring island, populated almost solely by haenyeo, women freedivers who harvest seafood, to investigate. Directed by Kim Ki-young (The Housemaid), this genre-bending bad-trip fairy tale of environmental destruction is among South Korea's most acclaimed films. It features a complex structure of layered flashbacks and a famously audacious ending. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Mar 8, 2025 - 4 comments

A brand new life is a heart-breaking story, based on the director’s personal life. A sweet 9-year-old Korean girl is abandoned by her father, who one day and without any warning drops her off at a Catholic orphanage in the countryside and leaves. Life is suddenly too painful for her. With the cutest little actress, who has to deal with life’s harshest lessons. A relatable debut feature, it uses the simplest and purest film language. 10/10. [more inside]
posted by growabrain on Mar 2, 2025 - 1 comment

[TRAILER] A group of survivors deals with a zombie pandemic that unleashes itself in downtown Seoul. An animated prequel to Train to Busan. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on May 3, 2024 - 0 comments

[TRAILER] Chinese secret agent Da-hee receives intel that a large number of illegal firearms are being smuggled into Korea and is sent to investigate the case. She meets Su-han, who was supposed to help her with the case but due to his lackluster skills, they keep fighting over really trivial things. But as their witnesses are suddenly murdered, the two of them quickly become the prime suspects. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Aug 10, 2023 - 2 comments

[TRAILER] A working class family wins a free vacation to Hawaii. But when their plane takes flight, it gets hijacked by terrorists. To save her family and the other passengers, the wife must reveal her secret past and fight back. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Aug 10, 2023 - 8 comments

[TRAILER] A single mother who is a renowned hired killer finds it difficult to achieve a balance between her personal and work life. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Aug 10, 2023 - 1 comment

[TRAILER] The 'Beast Cop' Ma Seok-do heads to a foreign country to extradite a suspect, but soon after his arrival, he discovers additional murder cases and hears about a vicious killer who has been committing crimes against tourists for several years. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Aug 9, 2023 - 1 comment

[TRAILER} Narcotics detectives work undercover in a chicken joint to try and bust a gang of organized criminals. Things take an unexpected turn when their new recipe suddenly transforms the run-down restaurant into the hottest eatery in town. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Aug 9, 2023 - 2 comments

[TRAILER] In the year 1999, a young woman leaves her quaint seaside house and returns to the city, leaving in the mailbox a card for the next owner, with instructions to forward any mail of hers to the new address. In the year 1997, a jaded young architect moves into the same house--and finds the letter. His reply, which he slips into the mailbox, finds its way to her, beginning a parallel-time love story separated by a span of two years. If this sounds like The Lake House, it's because that film was a remake of this one. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Aug 3, 2023 - 2 comments

A girl wakes up in a secret laboratory and meets Kyung-hee, who is trying to protect her from a gang. When the gang finally finds the girl, they are overwhelmed by an unexpected power. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Feb 24, 2023 - 6 comments

Gurus in the late Goryeo dynasty try to obtain a fabled, holy sword, and humans in 2022 hunt down an alien prisoner that is locked in a human's body. The two parties cross paths when a time-traveling portal opens up. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Aug 27, 2022 - 2 comments

Hong Gil-dong is an infallible private detective with an exceptional memory and an odd personality. While chasing the only target he failed to find, his plan for revenge is complicated when two little girls attach themselves to him. An action/mystery film from South Korean writer-director Jo Sung-Hee (Space Sweepers). [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Feb 23, 2021 - 2 comments

The next pick will be of the horror-adjacent variety. 2010 Korean thriller I Saw the Devil by director & co-writer Kim Jee-woon (A Tale of Two Sisters), tells the bloody tale of a secret agent who exacts revenge on a serial killer through a series of captures and releases. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Mar 15, 2016 - 5 comments