Two roommates in Seoul make an impulsive, last-minute decision to travel to Korea’s east coast. Hwa-jeong (Woo Hwa-jeong) wants to make a wish to the sun as it rises up from the ocean, praying for her latest job interview to be successful. Less focused on her ambitions, Seol-hee (Yeo Seol-hee) isn’t even sure what to wish for. But after they arrive, things don’t go as planned, and the two of them end up fighting and setting off on separate paths. There is a light, spontaneous feel to A Wing and a Prayer, which in place of the rigorous plotting that is standard for Korean cinema, is content to simply follow and observe its characters through a series of incidents and chance encounters. But despite this apparent lightness, the film effectively delves beneath the surface of its various characters, who each seem lost and searching in different ways.

Darcy Paquet