Connection is at the heart of Hong Sang-soo’s charming yet deceptively complex multiple-character study.

A series of vignettes, separated by two years, introduces several misfits in pairs: an indecisive fashion student holidaying in Berlin; her sometime boyfriend, an aspiring actor who travels from Seoul for an impulsive rendezvous; his father, an emotionally distant doctor who leaves his son waiting in order to see to a celebrity patient; and the aforementioned luminary, a seasoned thespian who offers the younger man some unsolicited career advice over a few too many glasses of soju. Through the at times friendly, at times fraught interactions that ensue, unspoken links and fissures are subtly exposed.

A master of weaving complex narratives from seemingly uneventful interactions, MIFF regular Hong Sang-soo (Hotel by the River, MIFF 2019; Grass, MIFF 2018) delivers another slyly perceptive chamber piece. In this particular work – written, directed, produced, shot, scored and edited by the South Korean auteur himself, earning him the 2021 Silver Bear for Best Screenplay for his efforts – he reveals the ways in which interpersonal dynamics forever lurk just below the surface, emerging only when coaxed by the intricacies of conversation and the simplicity of physical touch.

“A fully achieved addition to the director’s oeuvre, one that reveals layers of complexity, poignancy and humour as it replays in the mind.” – Screen Daily