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)

Jinwoo (Jin-young) and his friends, who are each experiencing the peak of their puberty, have their own unique interests and causes of trouble. The one common interest among them is Seon-ah (Da-hyun), the model student who embodies both grace and beauty. To them, Seon-ah looks like an unattainable dream, even though she’s in the same class. Despite their contrasting personalities and academic performances, Jin-woo and Seon-ah develop a close bond by showing interest in each other’s different sides. Their relationship navigates through the lovey-dovey and bittersweet phases of high school and into the heart of their poignant youth. You Are the Apple of My Eye, a stylish remake of the Taiwanese film of the same name, vividly captures the lively moments of young people in the 2000s, the nuanced emotions of first love, and the intricate journey of first love over 15 years. (HONG Eunmi)

Hollywood celebrity Elisabeth Sparkle refuses to be replaced in the twilight of her stardom. She takes fate in her own hands and creates Sue, a better, younger, and more beautiful version of herself. The problem is that Sue doesn’t want to follow the rules that “two are one” and ultimately this twisted, satirical allegory erupts into a bloodfest extravaganza. There are things that you’ve got to try for yourself. So thinks our heroine Elisabeth, who desperately tries to revive her fading youth and beauty. And the audience, who venture to experience this outrageous body horror, will likely cry out “This is sick!” (pun intended) at the extremes it will push. Coralie Fargeat chooses style over substance (again, pun intended) and there is little subtlety in getting the message delivered. This is an unforgettable feminist movie backed by strong performances, especially Demi Moore who gives a career defining performance.

Albert (Damien Bonnard), a freelance journalist living in the outskirts of Paris, vows to avenge the brutal murder of his young daughter. By his side is Sayoko (Shibasaki Ko), a Japanese doctor who, for reasons unknown, assists him in his quest for revenge. To uncover the truth, Sayoko and Albert resort to capturing and brutally torturing those connected to the case. They eventually uncover that the people who kidnapped his daughter are linked to a mysterious cult, but a shocking truth that no one could have anticipated is coiled up behind it. Serpent’s Path (2024) is an adaptation and remake of Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s 1998 film of the same name. Filmed in France and in French, the movie shares the basic storyline of the original but diverges from the cult classic yakuza genre of its predecessor. Though filled with gritty and brutal violence, the film ultimately reaches the profound depths behind the truth. Above all, Shibasaki Ko’s restrained and chilling performance adds the final touch of suspense. (SONG Kyung-won)

Master of thrillers Jacques Audiard brings women and female actors to the forefront in Emilia Perez, exploring the theme of transgender identity. The story follows a former drug cartel boss from Mexico who decides to undergo gender reassignment surgery and becomes Emilia Perez. Emilia transforms into the founder of an association dedicated to locating the bodies of thousands of Mexicans killed by Narcos. Emilia Perez is a remarkable blend of thriller and comedic musical, with Carla Sofía Gascon delivering an unforgettable performance as Emilia and Zoe Saldana playing Rita, the protagonist’s supportive lawyer. The Avatar star once again proves her exceptional talent as a singer and dancer in Emilia Perez. Portraying Emilia Perez’s unique fate with elegance, Audiard pays homage to the musical, colorful, and melodramatic aspects of Mexican culture, creating one of his boldest films yet. (SEO Seunghee)

In the dead of night, Nadira escapes from a brothel in Delhi after fatally stabbing a police superintendent. With the law hot on her heels, she takes temporary shelter in a Northern Indian community of sex workers, assuming the Hindu name Renuka. There, she crosses paths with Devika, a young girl bound by a religious tradition condemning her to a life of prostitution. As their bond deepens into a forbidden romance, Devika defies her tyrannical mother and the oppressive age-old system, joining Renuka on a perilous journey through a treacherous maze of violence and brutality, all in the hope of outrunning the law and attaining their freedom. The Shameless is directed and written by Konstantin Bojanov. It was invited to the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, and Anasuya Sengupta who plays Renuka won the Best Performance Award.

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)

Seventeen-year-old Ze attends a modern school in Ulaanbaatar, while also leading a traditional life as a shaman and communing with ancestral spirits. Unlike his older sister, who is grappling with the gap between urban life and traditions, Ze appears to maintain a good balance. When he goes to perform a rite for Maralaa, a rebellious and unstable girl of his age who is about to undergo surgery, he finds himself drawn to her, igniting a desire within him. City of Wind centers on the teenage protagonists on the cusp of adulthood and questions the values and the boundaries between individual desires and communal responsibilities, tradition and modern, urban and rural, and realistic life and spiritual life. The uncertainties, confusion, and loneliness that the teens face in this film reflect the anxieties of Mongolia’s youth in a society undergoing rapid changes. The film won the Orizzonti Best Actor Award at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. (HONG Soin)

Pierre, a railroad worker, is raising his two sons alone. His eldest, Fus, who loves soccer, has become secretive as he starts hanging out with far-right friends, while his younger son, Louis, is about to study at the Sorbonne in Paris. The once close-knit family begins to unravel due to Fus’ wayward behaviors. Pierre tries to reason with his son, who is becoming increasingly violent under the influence of totalitarian ideologies, but to no avail. Eventually, a terrible tragedy befalls the family. The director does not equip Fus with sophisticated language filled with political ideologies and beliefs but rather gives him the body as a tool to express these ideas through intense physicality—sports, dance, and fights. When Fus dances in a trance-like state and others start to appear around him, colliding and dancing wildly, it becomes clear that their movements are not just dance. The performances by Vincent Lindon as Pierre and Benjamin Voisin as Fus leave long-lasting impressions. (LEE Juhyun)

Ernest Hemingway’s influential short story The Killers (1927), has been adapted to film by Robert Siodmak and Andrei Tarkovsky, while Edward Hopper’s painting Nighthawks (1942) is also said to have been inspired by the story. The Killers, an omnibus film comprised of four-shorts, takes motifs from these two classics and borrows some of their imagery as mise-en-scène. The 4 directors unfold the noir world of death and waiting with different senses and sensibilities. Kim Jong-kwan’s Metamorphosis, which depicts the awakening and manifestation of power following bloodsucking; Roh Deok’s Contractors, a pyramid of contract killings and subcontracted labor; Chang Hang-jun’s Everyone is Waiting for the Man, which tracks down a ghostly figure called a mysterious killer; and Lee Myung-Se’s Silent Cinema, an allegory of his longtime dream of cinema and the world. Notably, Actor Shim Eun-kyung appears in all four films, each time in a completely different role, adding to the delight. It’s an unconventional collection of emotional, psychological, and action-oriented films. (JEONG Jihye)

Tango at Dawn tells the story of three women. Ji-won, who is clear-cut and straightforward, is hiding out and securing a job at a factory after being swindled by a friend; Ju-hui, Ji-won’s roommate, who is kind to everyone and always remains optimistic; and Han-byeol, who started working at a young age, became a team leader, and is quite selfish and irresponsible. One day, an accident happens to a fellow worker, and the reactions and solutions offered by these three women involved in the accident are remarkably different. The emotional tension arising from their differences, and the profound impact that transcends that tension, becomes increasingly powerful through the film’s multidimensional character development and subtle emotional buildup. Tango at Dawn poses careful questions about the failure and restoration of relationships, and serves as an intriguing example of personality and fate, ultimately becoming a poignant elegy for the loss of something precious and beautiful. (JUNG Hanseok)

This is the feature directorial debut of Paola Cortellesi, who first debuted as a singer at 13 and later became an actress and screenwriter, before taking on directing at the age of 50. The film’s protagonist, Delia—played by the director herself—is a middle-aged mother suffering from domestic violence at the hands of her ex-military husband. Delia endures her war-like daily life in silence, caring for her two young sons, a daughter who is about to get engaged, and a cantankerous father-in-law who is bedridden. However, after receiving a letter, she decides to change her life. Set in 1946, the year when women’s suffrage was first implemented in Italy, this black-and-white comedy-drama in the neorealism style tackles the issues of patriarchy and domestic violence with a lighthearted touch. It became the highest-grossing Italian film of 2023, breaking all records at the Italian box office, ranking in the top 10 of all-time Italian box office hits, and becoming the most successful film directed by an Italian female director. (JO Ji-hoon)