Anchan and Deokwoo are inseparable friends, one helping the other approach girls and write love letters. Yet their feelings are drifting in different directions. This teenage romance movie delicately unfolds the narrative of “you don’t know how I really feel” with a sense of calm and tenderness. (KANG Sowon)

The Arabian Nights trilogy maintains the surreal quality of the original work by shifting between the past and present without hesitation and overlapping them intentionally. It freely utilizes elements of both documentary and fiction to present a diverse array of stories about Portuguese people living through the economic crisis, conveyed through satire, metaphor, and realistic depiction. While Part 1 directly satirizes the incompetence of the politicians who caused the economic crisis and realistically portrays the lives of ordinary people experiencing the crisis, Part 2, composed of three episodes, provides the bleakest yet most powerful political metaphors, satire, and black humor in the trilogy. It shows how one seemingly unrelated event influences another and ultimately functions as a political metaphor through a chain of intriguing stories. (JO Ji-hoon)

“Retirement is not on my mind, and I find joy in continuing to work and create new stories.” This is what the 82-year-old maestro Marco Bellocchio says. The first chapter of his comedy short film series May I Say? Chapter 1, first released in 2021, begins with 50-year-old Fausto returning to his hometown of Bobbio after his mother’s death. Fausto, who often approaches strangers with somewhat rude advice, always starts with, “May I say?” This reflects the director’s own critical and comic observation of Italian society. The second chapter, introduced today, takes place three years after his mother’s death. Fausto, who still lives in his mother’s house, has no intention of working. Several people visit him one after the other, encouraging him to sell the house. Fausto responds to these hypocritical visitors without being aggressive, stating that he will not change his way of life. This amusing and refreshing short film series clearly reflects Bellocchio’s pursuit of complete independence, much like the characters in his own films, with no concern for honor. (SEO Seunghee)

Set in Southern Kazakhstan after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1993, Abel tells the story of a shepherd who faces new hardships when his collective farm is disbanded. When the farm where Abel spent his entire life herding sheep is disbanded in the wake of the changing political landscape, the farm’s workers wait for the farm property to be divided fairly. Unfortunately, corruption and deception run rampant among the leaders, and the rapid encroachment of capitalism proves too much for Abel and his family to handle. The film meticulously and realistically follows Abel and his family’s struggles with an unflinching, observational camera. The 13-and-a-half-minute one-shot scene in the first sequence, which intricately captures the dynamics between characters, and other well-crafted long takes showcase director Elzat Eskendir’s persistent and dedicated artistry. (PARK Sun Young)

Director Kang Mija, who gained attention with Let the Blue River Run (2008), has released her second feature film after several years. Based on the eponymous short story from Kwon Yeo-seon’s collection Good-bye, Drunkard, the film tells a tragic and pure love story between Yeong-gyeong, a severe alcoholic, and Su-hwan, who suffers from severe rheumatism. While the film is adapted from the short story, it has been crafted as a poetic work. Narrative context and explanations are largely excluded, and instead, the film features raw, powerful, and even surreal shots that repeat in a rhythmic, poetic manner. The emphasis on scenes of excessive drinking, indifference, and endless waiting evokes a profound sense of pain. Spring Night is a film that evokes intense agony, leaving viewers with a lingering sense of suffering. After watching, we, too, might feel as though poetry wells up inside us, or perhaps we, too, find ourselves crying beneath the blooming magnolia tree. (JUNG Hanseok)

American boy Paul and French girl Paulette are two peas in a pod, and a chance encounter on the streets of Paris leads to a budding friendship. Paul has to put down his artistic ambitions and become a suit and tie worker to fit into societal norms. Paulette has commitment issues, stemming from a traumatic incident that shattered her childhood innocence. Forming a unique relationship through their mutual fascination with death, Paul and Paulette engage in uncanny role-playing games to shake off their own insecurities. An impromptu road trip takes the couple to a dead end, and with nowhere to escape, Paul and Paulette must face the undeniable reality that playtime is over. British-French filmmaker Jethro Massey’s offbeat romantic comedy comes with a quirky twist, and tells an unordinary love story when people believe that sometimes love just isn’t enough. (Karen PARK)

The father, who “ran, ran, and flew” from the source of the Mekong River, sings to his young daughter. Yangchen, who lives in India, meets with her sister, who has returned from France for their mother’s funeral, and reveals the wounds she could not share with their parents. After a brief encounter with his old friend Jigdal, who has come from America, Thangka artist Sonam suddenly feels as though his simple life is too shabby. And Tenzin who lives in Wisconsin arrives in Dharamsala, where he spent his childhood, carrying his father’s ashes. State of Statelessness is an omnibus film that tells the stories of Tibetans in Vietnam, India, and the United States in Tibetan language and features four works by Tibetan diaspora artists. Neither the place they live now nor the place they fled long ago feels like home. So they sing, “If only the river could flow upstream.” (CHOI Eun)

Hellbound Season 2 inherits the bleak yet hopeful worldview and the provocative questions of its predecessor, pushing an increasingly complex situation into an even more chaotic direction. As the extremist group, Hwasalchok, expands its influence with inflammatory rhetoric, the government, unwilling to allow the situation to spiral out of control, seeks to establish a new order by exploiting the Saejinrihwe. Meanwhile, the resurrection of Jung Jinsu triggers a clash between the three factions: Saejinrihwe, Hwasalchok, and Sodo, each pursuing their own agendas. While Season 1 focused on the ‘reactions’ of humans grappling with an incomprehensible phenomenon, Season 2 zeroes in on the hell in and of itself created by the collision of collective interests and desires. Director Yeon Sang-ho’s signature dystopian atmosphere and probing questions about humanity have further been intensified. Actor Kim Sung-cheol, who takes over the role of Jung Jinsu, effectively fills the challenging gap, bringing a convincing performance to the series. (SONG Kyung-won)

Kirill Serebrennikov, director of Leto (2018) and Petrov’s Flu (2021), adapts Emmanuel Carrère’s biographical novel to portray Eduard Limonov, the Russian writer born in 1943 who caused a stir in Russian literature and politics. The film vividly follows Limonov’s turbulent life: from his impoverished existence in Russia during the late 1960s, to his time in New York during the 1970s, to his emergence as a famous writer in Paris in the 1980s, and finally, his return to Moscow where he formed an extremist political party. Serebrennikov recreates New York streets and Siberian prisons in the studio and delves into the writer’s chaotic inner world, evoking the style of Federico Fellini. Through the character of Limonov, brilliantly portrayed by Ben Whishaw, the director reflects on the painful history of Russia, spanning from the communist dictatorship to Putin’s nationalism. (SEO Seunghee)

Johan lives with his mother on a crocodile farm in West Java. For his mother, Johan and the crocodiles are everything in her life, and she takes great care of them. However, this life makes Johan, now an adult, feel suffocated and intimidated. One day, Johan meets Arumi, and he starts to develop feelings of love. With Arumi coming between Johan and his mother, their relationship subtly changes and eventually turns to a disaster. This is the feature debut of director Tumpal Tampubolon, who won the Sonje Award in 2021 for his short film The Sea Calls Me. While his previous work depicted a mother’s absence through the eyes of a young boy, this film dissects the oppressive control and possessiveness masked under the guise of motherhood. A shocking conclusion awaits at the end of the gradually tightening tension. (BOO Kyunghwan)

In a small village near the Himalayas, 16-year-old model student Mira becomes captivated by the free-spirited transfer student, Sri. As she falls for her first love, Mira’s sexual desires and rebelliousness begin to surface. The one thing that stands in the way of Mira’s self-discovery is her mother, Anila, who has never experienced a rebellious phase in her life. The conflict between the controlling Anila and the increasingly rebellious Mira takes an unexpected turn with Sri’s involvement. Director Shuchi Talati skillfully captures the subtle changes in their emotions and relationships, creating a captivating portrayal of Mira and Anila’s coming-of-age stories. The film features standout performances from Kani Kusruti, one of the most noteworthy Asian actors of the year, and two young actors making their debut. Winner of the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. (PARK Sun Young)

A group of middle school girls on the verge of graduation roam their neighborhood at night. As they move from one friend’s house to another, and eventually to the empty home of a stranger, their one-night adventure turns into a precarious act of rebellion. The film captures the fleeting sensations of youth that feel like a dream—or a nightmare. (KANG Sowon)