Irreversible (2016)

Life is Irreversible

This short South Korean film hits hard, especially for those who understand being homosexual in a place where everything (family, society, etc) is against you and you feel you have no choice but to follow along.

It’s a simple film, yes. Two lovers meet face to face after almost a decade apart. One is living his life with his wife and child, hiding who he was and being a shadow of himself. The other maintained his life and stayed steadfast, now seeking closure to move on & marry his new lover.

Many things are nuanced in this. Jihun’s daughter immediately takes to Taeil. Afterall, this is her father’s “best friend”. A meal is shared and while Jihun looks a bit uncomfortable, his wife and daughter have no issues chatting up Taeil. It’s good, Taeil sees the good life Jihun has chosen. But with Jihun, regret is clear (regret leaving, marrying) and the curiosity of what ifs lingers. You can feel that their ended was unplanned and abrupt. That almost a decade went by and while one lover gets married and has a kid, the other waited in vain for his return. You get this hinted at during the wedding invitation scene where Taeil mentions that he can count on his soon-to-be husband. The pain on Jihun’s face is clear. This is a man filled with remorse and longing. Wanting to reach out. Wanting to go back. Imagining if he stayed. But he made his choice. And that is irreversible.

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Story: Seems simple enough. Ex-lovers reunite in this short film. One has a family and the other getting married. Both men who I presume were torn apart due familial or societal expectations or maybe some other reason we will never know.

Acting/Cast: Surprisingly not bad, but not great either.

Music: White noise.

Rewatch Value: You get the moral lesson of the story, is that you cannot regret or reverse the decisions that you made in the past and you have to live with that said decision.

Overall: This short film is trying its best to be poignant but falls a lot short from the goal. My only question is why would you invite your ex-lover to eat with your family, when you are so clearly afraid that your wife may find out what you were to each other before?

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