In a quiet rural village in Thailand, a retired soldier named Yong lives with his granddaughter Xiang. Always by their side is their loyal dog, Bo. Yong’s dream is to build his own house atop a large tree in the front yard. As the house nears completion, however, Yong begins to feel the gradual departure of loved ones and the onset of his own aging and illness. One day, Xiang decides to leave to study abroad. This is the second feature film by director Sivaroj Kongsakul, who debuted with Eternity (2010). The film is noted for its delicate direction that portrays life and death and captures the sensibilities of those who have left and those who remain. Yong’s reflections on family and comrades stand in poignant contrast to the bright and spirited Xiang. The peaceful and beautiful rural scenery becomes infused with Yong’s emotions as he slowly comes to terms with his life. (BOO Kyunghwan)

Una Femmina: The Code of Silence (2022), delves deeper into the same themes in Familia. Opening with partially blurred flashbacks, both films follow protagonists recovering from distorted memories of the past to uncover the truth. The father, after painful years in and out of prison, seeks to reunite with his family. Though the family accepts his tearful apology, his old violent tendencies and paranoia soon resurface. Familia contrasts the father, who controls the family, with the son, who gets involved in an extremist organization, as he grapples with the cycle of violence passed through generations. The film is an allegory that flips the “prodigal son” narrative and reinterprets the hero of the Greek tragedy through the protagonist struggling to escape the chains of fate. (LEE Yong Cheol)

In a quiet elementary school classroom on the brink of summer vacation, a teacher and parents gather. A single mother reacts with disbelief upon hearing the news that her six-year-old son has done ‘something terrible’ to his classmate. The inexperienced teacher is at a loss, while the other mother unleashes vehemence originating from long-suppressed feelings of victimization. Armand slowly unravels a tangled web of secrets, offering hints gradually, but never provides easy or clear answers. This is a must-see for audiences who enjoy sharing their own interpretations when leaving the theater. Renate Reinsve, who won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival for The Worst Person in the World (2021), delivers a stunning performance. Director Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel, the grandson of legendary filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, won the Caméra d’Or at Cannes for this feature debut. (Karen PARK)

In the slums of Chongqing, China, Ms. Hu tirelessly collects strange garbage from the city center and brings them home. She drags back dinosaur heads, giant eggs, and mushroom models, possibly discarded after an amusement park closed down or an event ended, and builds a garden of dreams in her yard. With her unique optimism and surreal imagination, she has built a fairy-tale world of absurdity, a small shrine hung with wishes like lanterns, a bizarre paradise crafted as an escape from harsh reality. She has a son suffering from depression, who sees his mother as the “world’s most foolish mom, who works so hard yet is so poor.” Her place is also set to be demolished soon. Director Pan Zhiqi documented the lives of this mother and son over 10 years for this documentary, which is an impressive portrait of modern China as the relentless expansion of a commercialized city continuously displaces the lower class. (KANG Sowon)

In a small village hospital on the outskirts of Mongolia, a hostage situation unfolds. The perpetrator holds the village’s only doctor, along with nurses, a cook, and patients, demanding an enormous ransom. As the local police, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the crisis, struggle to handle the situation, a veteran detective named Davaa arrives from the city. Despite his efforts to navigate the harsh conditions,—lacking proper resources or support—he finds himself increasingly helpless as more hostages are killed. Set against the desolate landscape of inner Mongolia, the hostage situation unfolds skillfully within the conventions of the thriller genre. However, as time goes on, Davaa’s growing sense of helplessness and despair diverges from typical crime drama conventions, exposing the incompetence and corruption of the police leadership and politicians. Director Batsukh Baatar, who began his career as a cinematographer, captivates viewers with his striking visuals. (PARK Sun Young)

Jihun is a 19-year-old trainee working at a small factory, where he is paired with Wooseok, his indifferent and careless supervisor. When a problem arises with a client, Jihun, who doesn’t have a driver’s license, happens to take the wheel. This is a film with an impressively warm gaze on the bleak lives of the two workers from different generations. (KANG Sowon)

The third feature film by Ishibashi Yuho, who won the Japan Cuts award at the Osaka Asian Film Festival with When Morning Comes, I Feel Empty (2022). The film delicately conveys the memory of first love and the sense of loss, moving back and forth between past and present. Misaki, who has worked in Tokyo for ten years, spends quality time with her family and friends again in her hometown. At an event where classmates gather, she learns that the boy she liked in middle school has died. Unable to forget the memory of their first conversation in the library on a typhoon day, Misaki visits the library again on another typhoon day. Traveling Alone is a film that shows another way to fill the emptiness in one’s heart. While the music they listened to together on an MD player shows the emotional fullness of that time and place, the film only depicts the situation without directly playing the music. There is beauty that can be imagined because it’s empty, and there is love that is poignant because it wasn’t fulfilled. (NAM Dong-chul)

In a quiet seaside village, Xiao Kui, a lively girl with many dreams, is just as eager to help her mother Hongjv with her Maoqiang opera performances as she is to play with her friends. Since Xiao Kui’s father never returned from the sea, Hongjv has shouldered the burden of supporting the family alone. Her most shining moments are when she steps on stage as an opera actor. But now, with few people interested in traditional opera and Xiao Kui falling ill, their lives are suddenly swept into a turbulent current. While the film depicts unavoidable moments of pain and loss, its true theme is resilience—how we bounce back from such moments. Much like the balloons fluttering around the village, wishing for the safe return of those who went to sea, pain is ever-present in their lives, but so are the warm wishes for each other’s well-being. Blue Sea is a heartwarming film brimming with such kindness. (HONG Soin)

In the ages of gods, Ashwathama was cursed with immortality after losing a war, doomed to wander until he finds redemption in the next era of humankind. Six thousand years later, humanity has reached a dystopian state, marred by endless war and slaughter. A single government controls all military forces and resources, and only the wealthy live relatively peaceful lives in a megastructure called the Complex. In the Complex, a secret experiment known as Project K is being conducted on women of childbearing age. Released in 2024, Kalki 2898 AD became an instant sensation, not just in India but also in North America. The film presents a thrilling clash between past and present, good and evil, and the worlds of mythology and science. With grand music, intense action, and striking mise-en-scene, the performances by Prabhas from Baahubali, Deepika Padukone from Om Shanti Om (2007), and Kamal Haasan from Vikram (2022) add credibility to this spectacular film. (PARK Sun Young)

Tango at Dawn tells the story of three women. Ji-won, who is clear-cut and straightforward, is hiding out and securing a job at a factory after being swindled by a friend; Ju-hui, Ji-won’s roommate, who is kind to everyone and always remains optimistic; and Han-byeol, who started working at a young age, became a team leader, and is quite selfish and irresponsible. One day, an accident happens to a fellow worker, and the reactions and solutions offered by these three women involved in the accident are remarkably different. The emotional tension arising from their differences, and the profound impact that transcends that tension, becomes increasingly powerful through the film’s multidimensional character development and subtle emotional buildup. Tango at Dawn poses careful questions about the failure and restoration of relationships, and serves as an intriguing example of personality and fate, ultimately becoming a poignant elegy for the loss of something precious and beautiful. (JUNG Hanseok)

The Angel (2018) director Luis Ortega returns with another weirdly funny, cool, and sexy thriller where we follow a star jockey, his girlfriend and partner in crime, and a mobster on his tail. Remo’s talents cannot save him from his self-destructive behaviors, and after an unfortunate accident on the most important race of his career, he will walk out of his life to become free. Like a wild horse fleeing from a predator, the unique and surreal tale of Dolores (née Remo) the fugitive is deliciously weaved in a non-judgmental and unapologetic manner. With perfectly timed tongue-in-cheek humor, dreamlike mating dance sequences, and a grand finale where everything comes to full circle, Kill the Jockey declares that Luis Ortega is one of the most intriguing auteurs of contemporary Argentinean cinema. (Karen PARK)

It’s not a bloody revenge story. Revolver is rather a film that strives to avoid unnecessary sacrifices. Police officer Ha Su-yeong (Jeon Do-yeon) served a two-year sentence for being involved in corruption. She agreed to take all the blame in exchange for a large compensation but ends up with nothing. Su-yeong follows the trails of those involved in the case to get her promised payment, with a revolver in her hand. Revolver may seem similar to Director Oh Seung-uk’s previous works like The Shameless (2015), but it takes a completely different path. This film, which at first glance appears to wear the skin of a hardboiled crime noir, focuses solely on the movements of a character moving straight ahead, instead of relying on complex conspiracies, sensational action, or dramatic shocks. It can be described as a journey of a person who has lost everything and becomes shabby, yet ultimately maintains their dignity. An ambitious work that reflects Director Oh Seung-uk’s artistic deliberation and determination. (SONG Kyung-won)