Burning

Director: Lee Chang-dong, Lee Chang-dong, Lee Chang-dong, Lee Chang-dong, Lee Chang-dong

2018 / 148min / DCP

After an eight-year hiatus, Lee returns with this smoldering adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s short story “Barn Burning,” in which sinister overtones gradually color a triangular relationship. In Seoul, broke aspiring writer Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in) re-encounters a childhood girlfriend from the suburbs, Hae-mi (Jeon Jong-seo), but their burgeoning romance is cut short by the appearance of Ben (Steven Yeun), a posh playboy with an inscrutable demeanor. What follows is both murder mystery and study in pathological class-based resentment, concluding in a profoundly disturbing climax that offers no easy answers, but conversation fodder for weeks.