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)

Hilarion Zabala, a former master sergeant, is tormented by a strange smell. The diagnosis is phantosmia, i.e. olfactory hallucinations, where he perceives smells that do not actually exist. His doctor attributes this to past trauma and recommends that he confront and recall his dark military service period as a solution. Zabala, willing to take on any task, voluntarily visits a military base and is eventually assigned to a remote island penal colony. However, another horrific reality awaits him there.
From religious bloodshed to human rights abuses against women, the various forms of violence created by humans are still structurally and routinely pervasive. How can justice and salvation be achieved in an age of violence? Can violence used to prevent violence ever be justified? Deep anguish is reflected through the contemplative black-and-white imagery. (BOO Kyunghwan)

Thirteen-year-old Su-yeon is left alone after her grandmother passes away. Su-yeon’s friends and neighbors, whom she hoped would take her in, gradually turn their backs on her. Faced with being placed in a childcare facility if she can’t find a guardian, Su-yeon notices a couple who catch her eye. They are adopting a seven-year-old girl named Seon-yul and are immersed in happiness. Su-yeon tries to get close to Seon-yul, but she finds Seon-yul’s behavior somewhat suspicious. Waterdrop unfolds a panorama of ever-changing emotions. Starting as a tale of a pitiable orphan, it evolves into a sharp-edged survival mystery of a cunning child, equipped with piercing characters and dialogue, and unexpected dramatic twists. Ultimately, it poignantly confronts the weighty questions of protection and responsibility. The inscrutable faces and expressions of Su-yeon and Seon-yul encapsulate, surprisingly, the complex and subtle intricacies of the world. (JUNG Hanseok)

Two sisters gather with their husbands and children to head for a weekend at a peaceful country house. While the women dance to ‘90s pop music and the men posture their masculine bravado, the children are eager to go for a swim in the nearby lake. Brimming tension erupts as a horrific accident occurs, and what was supposed to be a relaxing holiday turns into a family tragedy and changes their lives forever. Winner of the Venice Orizzonti in 2021, Laurynas Bareiša’s sophomore feature film is meticulously structured. He stuns the audience with a narrative twist coming out of nowhere, and reveals what happened then only after contrasting with what is now. As suggested by the title Drowning Dry, the blink of an eye misfortune leading to the eventual failure of the sisters’ marital relationship is a delayed process, and the wounds sustained may take a longer time to grieve and heal. (Karen PARK)

Sometimes what is so precious to a person can be an object of transaction and fraud for others. It would be nice if people could control their greed, but the world doesn’t offer such kindness. Especially if someone lacks power and money, the world becomes crueler and harsher. In For Rana, the protagonists are parents looking for a new heart to save their daughter Rana. Hearing that the heart of an old man, who would die if taken off the respirator, would be good for a transplant to Rana, the parents meet the old man’s new wife and son to plead. The son, who is in a dispute over the old man’s inheritance, demands money for the heart transplant. Rana’s poor parents run around in all directions to raise money but hit a wall. This debut film by Iman Yazdi unfolds like an ordinary family melodrama before turning into a passionate whirlwind. The performances of the two actors playing Rana’s parents also create a magical effect that suddenly turns from gentle ripples into fierce waves. (NAM Dong-chul)

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)

Misericordia is a philosophical film noir by Alain Guiraudie that stands comparison with the works of Claude Chabrol and Robert Bresson. The movie is a prime example of the eccentric and imaginative world of director Alain Guiraudie. Jérémie returns to his village to attend the funeral of his former boss, a baker. Back in his old environment, he encounters old friends and feels the resurgence of desires and violence he harbored during his youth. In Misericordia, the dark and damp autumn forest becomes an astonishing stage. People there pick peculiar mushrooms, engage in fights, and bury corpses. In this primordial setting, moral questions are raised: “To what extent can ‘forgiveness’ be possible in the face of society and justice?” For Alain Guiraudie, mercy is not merely a dimension of forgiveness. It is a concept that transcends all morals, embodying understanding and empathy towards others. (SEO Seunghee)

Ani is a young Uzbek-American stripper from Brighton Beach, a Russophone enclave in New York City. As she is somewhat conversant in Russian, her boss fixes her up with Russian-speaking clients. After meeting Vanya, the son of a Russian oligarch, a romance kindles that, in addition to his desire to avoid deportation, leads to their elopement. Their fairytale marriage is threatened when Vanya’s parents travel to New York intending to force an annulment. Anora is a 2024 American comedy-drama film written, directed and edited by Sean Baker. Mikey Madison who is in the title role as an exotic dancer delivers a superb performance. Anora premiered this year In Competition at Cannes where it won the Palme d’Or, the first American film to do so since 2011’s The Tree of Life. It earned a 10-minute standing ovation at the end of its screening and became an almost unanimous crowd pleaser. Anora, Sean Baker’s eighth feature film, shows why he is the one of the most beloved American independent filmmakers working today.

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 the misty forests of North America, a family of Sasquatches—possibly the last of their enigmatic kind— embark on an absurdist, epic, hilarious, and ultimately poignant journey over the course of one year. These shaggy and noble giants fight for survival as they find themselves on a collision course with the ever-changing world around them. Sasquatch Sunset is a 2024 American absurdist fantasy drama film directed by David Zellner and Nathan Zellner who were well known for their previous films, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter (2014) and Damsel (2018). The Zellner brothers portray four humanoid creatures and their everyday lives as they eat, sleep, and hunt for food, all expressed with dark humor. It may be one of the weirdest films of the year, but it is an honest portrayal of the natural world.

Mother’s household ledgers contain a lifetime of arduous years. While her memory fades as she grows older, the details of her daily life, meticulously recorded in the household ledgers for 48 years since 1969, remain as traces of her existence. Director Seong Seungtaek discovered these ledgers among his elderly parents’ belongings when they moved in together after 30 years apart. Carefully examining those records, which are both precious documentation of his family history and his mother’s intimate diary, the director creates another important historical document. As Mother’s Household Ledger gradually intertwines the family story with modern Korean history and their shared memories, our hearts are profoundly stirred. The mother wrote down the passage of time, and the son now illuminates the world imbued with that time. (HONG Eunmi)

This is the latest work by Iranian master Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who has long been interested in the political issues of Afghanistan. To examine the deteriorating relations between Palestine and Israel following the Hamas attack on October 7, the director walks into the heart of Jerusalem, a city that has been a holy site for Judaism, Islam, and Christianity for centuries, where tension and hatred have become a daily reality. Even though Jews and Muslims live in the same building, they do not communicate with each other and occasionally attack one another. However, the residents, from their respective positions and perspectives, ponder solutions for coexistence and peace between Muslims and Jews. The film captures the grim atmosphere of the city and the voices of its inhabitants without exaggeration, while also showing that the future of the city lies with the bright-eyed children who currently cannot play together. It is a fine piece that affirms the power and role of the camera in capturing reality. (JO Ji-hoon)