[Indiestory]

Dream Palace 

2022 l 115 MIN l Drama

DIRECTOR KA Sungmoon

CAST Kim Sunyoung, Lee Yoonji, Choi Minyoung

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Hyejeong lost her husband in an industrial accident. She tries to take a new lease on life by moving with her son to a newly built apartment complex in a planned city, having been able to purchase one of the apartments with the settlement money. However, she soon notices construction defects in the building. Under the advice of the friend who recommended this apartment to her, Hyejeong decides to petition for a discount on the purchasing price in order to make up for the loss caused by the repairs. Her petitioning is not to the taste of the president of the resident’s association, who accuses her of devaluating their real estate properties. This puts her at odds with the other residents, who start to ostracize her. As the conflict heats up, she has to choose between protecting her apartment and antagonizing everyone in the neighborhood, including her closest friends. 

Real estate, widely regarded as a prime and secure investment in Korea, has become a major source of concern in recent years as the extreme price hikes observed over the last years might be a boon for landowners but have essentially rendered housing barely accessible to a large proportion of the population. This is the first feature film by KA Sungmoon, who won the KOFIC screenplay competition in 2019 with this project.

The Fifth Thoracic Vertebra 

2022 l 64 MIN l Fantasy Horror

DIRECTOR Park Syeyoung 

CAST Park Jihyeon, Moon Hyein, Haam Seokyoung 

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Moving into her boyfriend’s apartment, Gyeol has brought with her a mattress whose packaging sells as the fantastic result of human engineering and sleeping science. After their breakup, the mattress is discarded, with the only remaining trace of their relationship being a mysterious fungus that seems too deeply rooted to be removed. As the mattress finds new owners, the fungus continues to grow, as if feeding on the malaise, anxiety and loneliness that never fail to find themselves in its path. The mold eventually takes on a life of its own and manages to free itself from the mattress and is now roaming the streets of Seoul, lurking for its next prey.

Director Park Syeyoung cut his teeth with a number of short films such as Cashbag, winner of Best Editing at the Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival. First presented at the Bucheon Fantastic Film Festival earlier this year, The Fifth Thoracic Vertebra made a strong impression on the spectators, earning Park the Best Director Award and was also acknowledged by the public with the Audience Award. He also won a special Metion at the Fantasia Festival in Montreal. 

Usu 

2021 l 79 MIN l Drama

DIRECTOR Oh Sehyeon

CAST Yoon Jemoon, Kim Taehoon, Kim Jiseong 

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Jemoon is undergoing depression as he has resolved to close down his photo studio. One day, he receives a phone call to announce to him that the father of his old college friend Chulsoo has committed suicide. Not so long after, he finds out that it wasn’t his father but Chulsoo himself who took his own life. Jemoon decides to attend the funeral in the industrial coastal town of Gwangyang, but he doesn’t intend to go there alone. After reuniting with one of their common friends, Chulsoo contacts Eunjoo, who was dating Chulsoo in their college years. Together, they all head to Gwangyang the next day.

Oh Sehyeon, best known for his role as a producer on some of Zhang Lu’s acclaimed titles like Ode to the Goose (2018) and Fukuoka (2019), first jumped into the director’s chair with the feature indie Flash (2020), which was selected to screen at the Jeonju International Film Festival. His latest, starring Yoon Jemoon, who could be seen in Bong Joonho’s Okja, the gambling-themed thriller Tazza: One Eyed Jack (2019) and the aforementioned Fukuoka, premiered at the Busan International Film Festival last year.

[K-MOVIE ENTERTAINMENT]

Following 

2022 l Suspense thriller

DIRECTOR Kim Sehwi

CAST Byun Yohan, Shin Haesun

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Jungtae (Byun Yohan) is a realtor whose guilty pleasure is to sneak into people’s homes to get a feel of what their lives are like. One day, he notices a new face in the neighborhood, who turns out to be Sora (Shin Haesun), an influencer on Instagram. Much to his luck, Sora is looking for a new tenant for her apartment and entrusts a copy of the key to Jungtae’s agency. Jungtae doesn’t think twice before taking this opportunity to visit her home whenever he can, thrilled and excited. However, during one such visit, Jungtae makes a gruesome discovery: Sora’s dead body. Shocked, he knows that there is no way he can report it to the police without being charged with trespassing, if not worse. When he returns a few hours later with a client, pretending not to know what lies in there, Sora’s dead body is gone! Days later, Jungtae receives an anonymous note accusing him of the murder. It suddenly occurs to him that all the evidence is now pointing to him. 

Byun Yohan, who recently led the crime action in On the Line (2021) and Lee Joonik’s historical drama The Book of Fish (2021), challenges himself with an ambiguous role in the directing debut of Kim Sehwi, who previously penned Untouchable Lawmen (2015) and Operation Chromite (2016).

Portrait of a Family 

2022 l Family, Noir

DIRECTOR Lee Jiwon

CAST Ryu Seungryong, Ha Jiwon, Kim Sia

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Baseball player Jung-gu (Ryu Seungryong) and movie star Nammi (Ha Jiwon) are a celebrity couple who are living their best life, each leading a successful career and being happy in their marriage. One day, a girl named Dongju (Kim Sia) shows up, and the ensuing scandal leads to their ruin. Seven years later, as Dongju gets involved in the death of a middle school girl, Jung-gu and Nammi decide to fight a battle that they have no chance of winning. Will they be able to get back what they once had and return home?

The whole industry has been anticipating Lee Jiwon’s next feature project, after her amazing debut in the drama Miss Baek (2018), which single-handedly opened a new chapter in its lead Han Jimin’s career. Ryu Seungryong barely needs any introduction, having been one of the most bankable movie stars for more than a decade. He notably contributed to the success of the comedy Extreme Job (2018), to this day Korea’s second most watched movie of all time. Joining him is Ha Jiwon, who starred in John Woo’s Manhunt (2017) and more recently in the family drama Pawn (2020).

[Lotte Entertainment]

Confession 

2022｜ Thriller, Crime

DIRECTOR Yoon Jongseok

​CAST So Jisub, Kim Yunjin, NANA

CONTACT Lotte Entertainment

Tel +82 2 6277 5907

Email international02@lotte.net

Minho is spending the night in a hotel with his secret lover, only to find her murdered the next morning. Despite his claims of innocence, the police don’t think twice before locking him up, having found no evidence of the presence of a third party in the room. Minho then hires the best attorney in town, Shinae, who boasts of having a perfect record with not a single lost case. As she persuades him to tell her everything that might help her, Minho suddenly mentions that he and the victim had been involved in a car accident the day before the murder, and Minho believes this might constitute her best lead to prove that someone else is behind the crime. 

Led by heartthrob So Jisub, who turned heads in the romances Always (2011) and Be With You (2017) and was also seen in Ryoo Seungwan’s The Battleship Island (2017), this crime drama marks the return of director Yoon Jongseok, who debuted in 2008 with Marine Boy. Playing the ace lawyer is Kim Yunjin, the star of the US series Lost who has since notably appeared in the thriller Seven Days (2007) and the historical film Ode to My Father (2014).

Life is Beautiful 

2022｜123 MIN | Musical Drama

DIRECTOR Choi Kookhee

CAST Ryu Seungryong, Yum Jungah, Ong Seongwu

CONTACT Lotte Entertainment

​Tel +82 2 6277 5907

Email international02@lotte.net

Seyeon, who has devoted her entire life to her family as a mother and wife, suddenly learns that she is gravely ill. Now determined to live for herself more than ever, the only gift she asks for on her very last birthday is to be reunited with her first love from high school. Though not really at ease with his wife’s decision, her hard-hearted husband, Jinbong eventually agrees to go on a trip with her, for the sake of honoring her last wish. Through their journey together across the country, Seyeon and Jinbong reminisce the most beautiful moments of their lives.

Dubbed as Korea’s first jukebox musical film, Life is Beautiful boasts a large repertoire of popular Korean songs spanning several decades from the 1970s to the 2000s, including rock legend Shin Junghyeon and ballad genius Lee Moonsae, as the protagonists recall their younger days and the many memories associated with these hit songs. The ever-popular Ryu Seungryong, the “usual suspect” of many box office successes such as Extreme Job (2018) and The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014), sings and dances along with Yum Jungah, who starred in the sleeper comedy hit Intimate Strangers (2018) and headlined TV drama series Sky Castle (2018-2019), a satire of the wealthy that transcended all expectations to become a cultural phenomenon and the biggest success for a Korean series on a cable channel, with a rating of 23.8%. 

Hansan: Rising Dragon 

2022｜129 MIN | Historical Action Drama

DIRECTOR Kim Hanmin

CAST Park Haeil, Byun Yohan

RELEASE DATE July 27, 2022

CONTACT Lotte Entertainment

Tel +82 2 6277 5907

Email international02@lotte.net

In April 1592, Japan declares war to the Joseon Kingdom, with the clear ambition to use the Korean Peninsula as a stepping-stone for a large-scale invasion of China. The situation couldn’t be more critical for the Korean nation, as it takes only 15 days for the capital city to surrender. King Seonjo’s only hope to take the upper hand relies on Admiral Yi Sunshin, who is devising a strategy to cut the Japanese army’s supply lines. The ace in his hand is the turtle ships, specifically designed to prevent the Japanese fleet from boarding them. But only a few of these ships have survived the first battles, and the plans for the turtle ships have been stolen by Japanese spies…

Intended as a prequel to The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014) and as the second part of a planned trilogy revolving around the rise and fall of one of the most respected national heroes in Korea, Hansan: Rising Dragon nonetheless presents a totally different casting from the previous film, with Park Haeil taking over the lead role that Choi Minshik held in 2014, while Wakizaka Yasuharu, the military commander who led Japan’s fleet and was interpreted by Cho Jinwoong, is here played by Byun Yohan.