Aiko, a makeup artist working in Moscow, endured domestic violence during her childhood and has since cut ties with her father. One day, she receives the news of her father’s death, and with mixed emotions, she returns to her hometown to attend the funeral. There, Aiko meets her father’s second wife and her half-sibling. She is struck by the fact that the father, who was a monster to her, showered boundless love and kindness on them. This realization leaves Aiko feeling both angry and helpless. Dad Croaked on Saturday, the feature fiction debut by documentary filmmaker Zaka Abdrakhmanova, is set in a small village in Kazakhstan and revolves around three women who must become a new family. While the director chose the most familiar setting to her, the film is not an overtly ethnic or social commentary; rather, it tells a universal story that could unfold anywhere in the world. (HONG Sang-woo)

Taesan and Dongju are a long-time couple. As they prepare to move, they find an old sofa on the street and bring it home. Their cramped apartment, now filled with the sofa, the couple preparing for their move, and their dreams, are depicted with an air of detachment. The film captures their emotions with a unique rhythm, floating in the air. (KANG Sowon)

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)

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)

Young-tae and Mi-joo are happy to move into a small but cozy monthly rental house. However, Young-tae’s business partner suddenly breaks the agreement to run a restaurant together. Young-Tae leaves home to earn money, leaving Mi-joo alone. Mi-joo lives diligently while waiting for Young-tae. This is the new work by director Park Songyeol, who gained attention as an outstanding newcomer at the Busan International Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival with Hot in Day, Cold at Night (2021). It is fascinating to see how such a simple story can convey such complex emotions. It is lonely and scary, painful and sad, eerie and creepy, and funny and tear-jerking. The dreams and realities are more recklessly chaotic than in previous works, and the shining determination for life has become impressively strong. The unexpected and absurd final scene is also a highlight. It is a blessing to see such an unusual film as this. (JUNG Hanseok)

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)

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)

A group of undocumented migrant workers secretly reside in the mountains of Taiwan. They’ve handed over their passports to the man they call Boss in exchange for jobs as caregivers, but they haven’t been paid in two months. Among them, Oom, who has earned the boss’ favor and receives small privileges, takes care of Hui, a man with cerebral palsy, and his sick mother. When a careworker named Indri passes away, Oom is also charged with caring for Indri’s patient. The more dedicated Oom fulfills his duties, the more he drifts apart from his fellow workers; the more he fulfills his clients’ demands, the further he strays from his own conscience. And let’s not lose sight of the strange mongrel’s gaze, fixed on Oom’s hunched back whenever he is overwhelmed by sorrow and guilt. Mongrel is the English title of this film, which received a Special Mention in the Camera d’Or category at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, while its original title “白衣蒼狗 (Bai Yun Cang Gou)” is a Chinese idiom that refers to the ever-changing nature of the world. (CHOI Eun)

Flow is an animation that garnered acclaim from critics and audiences alike at Cannes this year and went on to sweep four awards, including Audience Award, Jury Prize, and Best Music, at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. Set in a post-catastrophic flood world, the film depicts various animals—such as a cat, a Labrador, and a lemur—living together on a drifting boat. The movie’s message is universal: these distant species must now cooperate to survive. Flow is a beautiful ode to solidarity, featuring stunning animation in every scene. As a silent film, it perfectly captures the gestures and movements of the animals, giving each character a unique personality. The protagonist is a lovable young cat with large yellow eyes, who is timid but exhibits moments of bravado as it runs or swims across the landscape. For this touching and spectacular adventure film suitable for all ages, director Gints Zilbalodis has created a majestic and perilous natural world, positioning himself as a worthy successor to Miyazaki Hayao. (SEO Seunghee)

The Final Semester is the extraordinary story of an ordinary student named Chang-woo, who is in the final semester at a vocational high school. Chang-woo is doing an internship at a small to medium-sized company’s factory and finds himself awkwardly contemplating his future alongside his classmate Woo-jae, who is growing tired of factory life, and Seong-min, who is recognized as competent. Despite unfortunate accidents happening around him, Chang-woo’s education continues every single day. The Final Semester is the second feature film by director Lee Ran-hee, who delivered a powerful emotional impact with her debut feature A Leave (2020), which told the story of a middle-aged laid-off worker, while The Final Semester is a meticulous chronicle of a young novice worker. Watching Chang-woo clumsily working in a factory full of dangerous machinery is nerve-wracking, but he slowly and steadily grows, and his small steps forward are deeply moving. This is a modest yet solid and authentic coming-of-age story that quietly immerses the audience in the experience of growth. (JUNG Hanseok)

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)

Once top of his class as a child, M now wastes his days on gaming broadcasts and lives off his mother. When his cousin Mui inherits a large fortune after dutifully caring for their ailing grandfather, M decides to do the same. Despite his usual indifference to family gatherings, M volunteers to care for his maternal grandmother, who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Will his plan succeed? This is the debut feature film by director Pat Boonnitipat, known for directing Bad Genius: The Series (2020). Inspired by a true story, the film has achieved the highest box office revenue of any film released in Thailand this year. The box office success has swept beyond Thailand and across Southeast Asia, and Usha Seamkhum became a “national grandmother,” stealing the hearts of audiences and making it hard to believe it was her first film role. How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies is an emotional drama that prompts reflection on family relationships. If you manage to get a ticket, don’t forget to bring a handkerchief. (BOO Kyunghwan)