Growing old alone in a village hundreds of miles away from his hometown, Kao might die while doing what he has done in life: cremating people. At a crematorium that receives unclaimed bodies, Kao’s job is to cremate the dead and handle visitors looking for their missing family. This taciturn man with a chronic hacking cough wants to quit his job and return to his hometown, but that seems improbable. Maybe in death he will look just like the lonesome bodies he encounters every day. Then one day a girl walks into Kao’s life. Why does Kao lie to the girl looking for her missing sister? At this point, Kao’s mundane days develop into something more dramatic. <The Cremator> delicately portrays how two lonely people complete each other. director Peng Tao makes use of every single scene to weave this sorrowful yet heartwarming story at a slow, deliberate pace. He directs a streak of light into their lives and shows his respect. <The Cremator> received support from the Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival Rotterdam. (KANG Sowon)