A Place to Heal, directed by Cédric Kahn, who also plays a leading role, is set in an adolescent psychiatric ward. Most of the young cast have no prior acting experience, the use of music is restrained, and the camera tends to observe rather than intervene, giving A Place to Heal the feel of a documentary. Watching the fifteen- to eighteen-year-olds laugh and chat in the opening scenes, one might mistake the place for a school common room. Of course, the film soon moves beneath that surface. Uncomfortable words such as ‘violence, prostitution, and rape’ begin to emerge from children burdened by anxiety and trauma. It is unsettling to hear these children constantly talk about death and suicide, but the doctor tries to treat them not as ‘crazy, but as vulnerable children dealing with problems that require care.’ The hospital’s goal is also the film’s question: ‘Can these children lead ordinary lives once they return to the outside world?’ What is striking is the film’s attitude: rather than claim responsibility, it simply refuses to speak irresponsibly. (LEE Yong Cheol)