Wu Fan, a director from Taiwan, becomes fascinated by the free spirit of XiXi, a dancer and performance artist she meets by chance while studying in Berlin. XiXi, originally from Shanghai, marries a French husband and moves to France, where she gives birth to a daughter. However, believing that freedom is the most important value in life, XiXi leaves her home to wander across Europe for her artistic pursuits. Her husband, unable to understand this way of life, declares divorce and attempts to keep her away from their daughter. Now, her lifestyle faces a major challenge. Director Wu captures the results of a free lifestyle and the impact of such a life closely, based on her intimate relationship with XiXi, exploring the value of freedom, self-identity, femininity, and the effects of intergenerational wounds and trauma. It is a remarkable and intense film that leads the audience towards introspection. (JO Ji-hoon)

Agathe Riedinger’s debut feature Wild Diamond, which competed at Cannes, portrays a girl in the midst of the social network society. Liane, a 19-year-old girl from southern France, lives in the era of TikTok and Instagram. She is determined to become a reality TV star by any means necessary. For Liane, whose future is bleak this is the only way out of poverty. With thousands of followers, she goes to great lengths to make her appearance resemble that of a famous beauty influencer through cosmetic surgery and makeup. Just before stepping into the world eager to exploit youth, Liane meticulously applies her makeup and dons a tight dress like armor, á la an Amazoness preparing for battle. Through references to myths and Cinderella fairy tales, and dreamlike scenes of a nightclub with blinking blue neon, the director allows the protagonist to escape from reality. The director states, “I criticize sexism and the consumerist culture of reality TV, but I do not judge Liane, her dreams, or her environment.” (SEO Seunghee)

Director Ryu Hyung-seok, who served as a conscripted firefighter during his mandatory military service, made a documentary about firefighters. Responding to calls from those on the edge of life and death, these modern-day heroes at the Yangsan Firestation and Ulsan Fire Headquarters are the focus of The First Responders. Without voiceover narration or interview shots, the film captures not only the team’s work and daily lives, but also their inner darkness, desires, and the difficult fate inherent in their profession. Here, the camera is not simply a tool for recording but is one of them, acting as their eyes. “Just strip away all emotion and focus on what you need to do,” one firefighter says, and the documentary mirrors this approach, moving steadily forward without being swept up by emotional waves. Yet the film inevitably reaches heart-warming moments. This documentary offers an exceptionally humanistic insight into the profession. (KANG Sowon)

Yoshii (Suda Masaki), working in a small factory, hates losing even the smallest amount. As a professional reseller under the alias ‘Ratel,’ his principle is simple: buy low, sell high. From figurines to handbags, and even medical devices, there are no limits to the items he deals with. One day, after settling in a lakeside residence on the outskirts of the city to fully immerse himself in his reselling activities, Yoshii is suddenly struck by an act of violence filled with clear hostility. Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s new film, Cloud, which in some ways echoes his earlier work Cure (1997) by giving cinematic form to the unseen, depicts a chain of malice, violence, and collective madness. The process of hatred, hidden behind anonymity, festering and ultimately erupting into mass hysteria is pure chaos. As you try to escape the overwhelming pressure that relentlessly pursues you, you suddenly realize you’ve reached a point of no return. Suda Masaki’s multi-dimensional performance, in particular, brings a terrifying reality to the unseen. (SONG Kyung-won)

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)

A film adaptation of a play made by a high school drama club, directed by Yamashita Nobuhiro of Linda Linda Linda (2006). It’s essentially a coming-of-age film about teenagers made by teenagers. During summer vacation, at a high school, the PE teacher makes female students who skipped his class clean the outdoor swimming pool. The drained pool is full of sand blown in from a nearby baseball field, and the task of scooping up the sand and putting it in buckets seems meaningless. Chizuru, who used to be unbeatable in the swim club in middle school even against boys, practices imaginary swimming in the sand-filled pool, while Kokoro, who is serious about cultivating her feminine charm by diligently applying makeup, doesn’t care about cleaning. With their own stories, Miku, who diligently practices dance moves typically performed by men, and Yui, who was the swim club captain last year, and the other girls meet and converse on the pool floor under the summer sun, where unexpected conflicts arise and resolve in unexpected ways. Through a few hours in a day at a high school, the film interestingly shows the sensibilities and desires, dreams and hopes, anger and frustration of that time. (NAM Dong-chul)

On a cold winter day, a woman dances strangely in the snow-covered foothills of the Himalayas, moving slowly as if performing a ritual to wash away the deep wounds of her life. This woman is 25-year-old Nia, who is left bewildered by an unexpected pregnancy. She repeatedly contacts her boyfriend to no avail. Carrying her pain, she retreats to her family’s mountain cabin, where she is enveloped by silence and fear. But soon she reconnects with memories of her childhood through her interactions with Bhemi, a local woman who takes care of the cabin, and her grandson Sunny, and gets closer to the lives of the locals, even finding moments of laughter. Against the harsh backdrop of winter mountains, these three individuals, each bearing their own wounds despite their age and class differences, slowly grow closer and form relationships that bring comfort to one another—simply witnessing this process is healing in itself. (HONG Soin)

As the cold winter sets in, a man returns to his remote Himalayan hometown for the first time in a while. The nomadic protagonist’s journey home reveals a growing emotional distance as he nears his village. The sense of loneliness and alienation he feels about the space he once called ‘home’ or ‘hometown’ are captured through the film’s predominant bluish tones and memorable backward dolly shots. Although he moves forward, the scene gradually pulls away. Lingering on the outskirts of the village, he has already missed his brother’s funeral, and no one in his family welcomes him back. The narrative and visuals unfold entirely from the protagonist’s perspective, and this experimental method draws viewers deeper into his inner world, prompting them to question the concepts of home, sense of belonging, and threshold of an outsiders. (HONG Soin)

Okuyama Hiroshi, who won an award at the San Sebastián Film Festival with his debut film Jesus (2018), returns with his second feature. My Sunshine explores the special bond between a boy and a girl captivated by figure skating and their figure skating coach. Takuya, a member of an ice hockey team, lacks passion for the sport. One day, he becomes enchanted after watching Sakura figure skate. The figure skating coach, noticing Takuya’s interest, suggests he join Sakura for ice dancing lessons. As the three practice in preparation for a competition, they encounter an unexpected challenge. Ikematsu Sosuke, from films like Killing (2021) and Okiku and the World (2023), plays the coach in this film that provides a nuanced portrayal of the characters’ emotions. Scenes of the actors skating to Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” leave a lasting impression of this poignant story. The director himself trained in figure skating for seven years in his childhood. (NAM Dong-chul)

“Why did you do it?” is the question that Jungsik(Lee Sun-kyun) asks his sister-in-law Eunmo(Seo Woo) on two occasions in Paju, and maybe that’s what the movie wants to ask him too. After a failed first love and being wanted for student activism, Jungsik finds himself in the foggy city of Paju. There, he marries Eunsoo(Shim Yi-young), and they start a new life together with Eunsoo’s younger sister Eunmo, but he remains vague, elusive, and distant. His gestures are those of resignation and exhaustion, as if he’s just holding on to what’s in front of him, what he can do, while being weighed down by a deep sense of loss and unshakeable guilt. When this opaque man, who rarely reveals his inner self, speaks the words from his heart to Eunmo, it becomes a mystery of life that cannot be solved or fathomed. The expressionless face of Jungsik, played by Lee Sun-kyun, causes great ripples and eventually leads us into the abyss. (JEONG Jihye)

It’s 1997. Ai fails to enter the prestigious First Girl’s High School and is forced by her mother to enroll in the school’s night program instead. The day and night students share classrooms and wear the same uniform but different colored name tags. Ai ends up sharing a desk with Min, a day student who soon becomes her close friend. Spending time with Min and wearing Min’s uniform, Ai momentarily feels as though she belongs among the day students, and one day she meets a boy named Lu Ke who sets her heart aflutter. Set against the backdrop of a school, a place of cherished memories and a microcosm of the social hierarchy dictated by academic success, The Uniform skillfully portrays the story of teenagers navigating love, friendship, disappointment, and growth. This tender coming-of-age drama features a cast of talented young Taiwanese actors, including Chen Yan-fei, who won the Golden Horse Award for Best Newcomer for her performance in The Silent Forest (2020). (PARK Sun Young)

Ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Lang, who was recently released from prison after serving time for murder, returns to his hometown – a place that feels both unfamiliar and dangerous. Designated for redevelopment, the town is now nearly deserted, with abandoned stray dogs roaming freely and even attacking people. After a fateful encounter with a black dog that has a bounty on its head, Lang joins a patrol team, thanks to a friend, to chase away the strays. At the same time, he is pursued by a local businessman, Hu, who owns a snake farm and has been seeking vengeance and answers from Lang regarding the death of his nephew 10 years ago. Winner of the Un Certain Regard Prize at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, this film is remarkable enough and noteworthy for its breathtaking scenes of the Gobi Desert and the silhouettes of wild dogs at dusk. (CHOI Eun)