Screening accompanied by an introduction by Dr Hyun Seon Lee.

Three friends on the cusp of thirty share a flat. All three have so far avoided the direct route prescribed by their conservative society: from school/university to marriage and motherhood. Ho-jeong runs a small commercial art firm, Yeon works as a waitress and Soon studies at graduate school. Ho-jeong is the most frank and active about seeking sexual partners, while Yeon and boyfriend Yeong-jak have a bit more serious relationship; Soon seems unable to find anyone but help, it turns out, is near at hand.

Kang Soo-yeon, as Ho-jeong, sparks well off fellow actors, the elegant Jin Hee-kyung as Yeon and Kim Yeo-jin playing the low-key Soon; among this talented ensemble it was actually Kim who gained most critical praise. Kang’s Ho-jeong ends up involved in an adultery suit, a reminder that until the draconian criminal statutes concerning adultery were overturned in 2015, the law could be a nasty weapon in the hand of any well-off vindictive husband or wife.

Mark Morris