Based on a story by Haruki Murakami, a girl from Jong-Su’s old neighborhood asks him to look after her cat while she’s traveling. When she returns, she introduces him to a wealthy guy named Ben, who confesses his secret hobby. A film by Lee Chang-Dong, starring Yoo Ah-In, Steven Yeun, and Jeon Jong-Seo.

A psychological thriller film based on the short story “Barn Burning” (納屋を焼) from The Elephant Vanishes (象の消滅) by Haruki Murakami (村上春樹).

Lee Jong-Su (이종수 portrayed by Yoo Ah-In / 유아인) stumbles upon Shin Hae-Mi (신해미 portrayed by Jeon Jong-Seo / 전종서), a childhood neighbor, while making a delivery. He initially fails to recognize her due to her decades-long absence and dramatic transformation via plastic surgery.

She later tells him about her upcoming trip to Africa and asks him to feed her cat while she is away. Jong-Su, believing this to be the beginning of a romantic relationship, readily agrees.

Jong-Su must return to his childhood home in the countryside to take care of his father’s farm while Hae-Mi is away, due to his father’s legal entanglement and lawsuit for assaulting an officer. Jong-Su then travels back to the city to feed her cat.

Jong-Su receives a call from Hae-Mi, who is stranded at Nairobi Airport for three days after a nearby bombing. She asks him to pick her up at the airport when she returns to Korea, but fails to mention that she is also bringing a man she met at Nairobi Airport with her. Jong-Su is surprised when Hae-Mi introduces him to Ben (Steven Yeun) at the airport, and the three of them go out for dinner.

At the restaurant, Hae-Mi cries and confesses her desire to disappear. Jong-Su becomes envious of Hae-Mi’s relationship with Ben, a wealthy man who is evasive about his occupation.

Hae-Mi and Ben visit Jong-Su’s farm, where they smoke cannabis and Hae-Mi dances carefree until she exhausts herself and falls asleep. Ben confesses to Jong-Su that he has a strange and uncontrollable hobby: every few months, he sets fire to an abandoned greenhouse, finding immense satisfaction in watching it disappear as if it never existed. Ben also reveals that he has already chosen his next target, and it is very close to Jong-Su’s childhood home.

From that day on, Jong-Su searches his neighborhood for the burned-down abandoned greenhouse Ben has described, but he never finds it. Until one day, Hae-Mi mysteriously disappears.

BURNING, a mesmerizing slow-burn thriller co-written and directed by South Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-dong, keeps viewers captivated with its enigmatic screenplay and storytelling. The questionable actions and decisions of each character, supported by inconclusive evidence, create an atmosphere of tension and ambiguity.

The three leading actors deliver thrilling and convincing performances, leading viewers to an unexpected and open-ended final moment that is nonetheless incredibly satisfying.

버닝 (BURNING) premiered at the Festival de Cannes on 18 May 2018, where it won the FIPRESCI Prize and became the highest-rated film in the history of Screen International’s Cannes jury grid. The film was released theatrically in South Korea on 17 May.

The FIPRESCI Prize is an award presented by the International Federation of Film Critics to films that are screened at international film festivals. The prize is awarded to films that are considered to be of high artistic quality and that have made a significant contribution to the art of cinema. It is considerably one of the most prestigious awards in the film industry.