70
296
11
3
2
2
3
2
1
1
2
5
This is going to be a very unpopular opinion regarding this movie, but here goes. While I appreciated that director Lee Chang Dong made a powerful film about ableism, his own inherent bias toward women completely spoiled this film for me.
Hong Jong Du is freed from prison and heads to his brother’s apartment. Unbeknownst to him his family has moved with no forwarding address. Fortunately, a trip to the police department after a dash and dine situation reunites him with his reluctant family. He decides to take a fruit basket to the adult children of his vehicular manslaughter victim. There he briefly meets Han Gong Ju who suffers from cerebral palsy. Her family lives in a nice apartment complex for the handicapped ostensibly for her, while they stow her in a rundown apartment with only the neighbors bringing her food. The two “misfits” end up becoming friends and scandalizing “normal” people whenever they go out.
I enjoyed most of this film and felt it had an important message. Everyone had a lot to say about Jong Du and Gong Ju, but rarely listened to a word they said even when it was inherently important. Most people assumed Gong Ju couldn’t speak or was lacking in intelligence. Both beliefs were false. “Normal” people felt uncomfortable around those who were “different” and sought to drive the two away wherever they went. Moon So Ri gave a brilliant and what must have been an exhausting performance as Gong Ju. Sul Kyung Gu as expected gave a great performance as the complicated and at times despicable Jong Du.
Now why I cannot rate this film higher---When a great love affair begins without consent and with the words, “Be a good girl,” “Don’t struggle,” and “Stay still bitch,” the director has told me his underlying belief about women. Rape is NOT foreplay. Rape is NOT romantic. And while I’m on a roll, even when sex is consensual, ‘brace yourself darlin’ is not foreplay either. Without that vile and reprehensible beginning, I would have rated this complex film higher. Calling out ableism while not so quietly advocating violence against women is not a great tradeoff.
13 August 2025
Trigger warnings: partial nudity, sex scene, sexual assault
Hong Jong Du is freed from prison and heads to his brother’s apartment. Unbeknownst to him his family has moved with no forwarding address. Fortunately, a trip to the police department after a dash and dine situation reunites him with his reluctant family. He decides to take a fruit basket to the adult children of his vehicular manslaughter victim. There he briefly meets Han Gong Ju who suffers from cerebral palsy. Her family lives in a nice apartment complex for the handicapped ostensibly for her, while they stow her in a rundown apartment with only the neighbors bringing her food. The two “misfits” end up becoming friends and scandalizing “normal” people whenever they go out.
I enjoyed most of this film and felt it had an important message. Everyone had a lot to say about Jong Du and Gong Ju, but rarely listened to a word they said even when it was inherently important. Most people assumed Gong Ju couldn’t speak or was lacking in intelligence. Both beliefs were false. “Normal” people felt uncomfortable around those who were “different” and sought to drive the two away wherever they went. Moon So Ri gave a brilliant and what must have been an exhausting performance as Gong Ju. Sul Kyung Gu as expected gave a great performance as the complicated and at times despicable Jong Du.
Now why I cannot rate this film higher---When a great love affair begins without consent and with the words, “Be a good girl,” “Don’t struggle,” and “Stay still bitch,” the director has told me his underlying belief about women. Rape is NOT foreplay. Rape is NOT romantic. And while I’m on a roll, even when sex is consensual, ‘brace yourself darlin’ is not foreplay either. Without that vile and reprehensible beginning, I would have rated this complex film higher. Calling out ableism while not so quietly advocating violence against women is not a great tradeoff.
13 August 2025
Trigger warnings: partial nudity, sex scene, sexual assault
Was this review helpful to you?
