50/50
A French woman drinks makgeolli in Korea after losing her livelihood, then teaches French to two Korean women. Referenced in Close-Up: The Best Films and Other Results of 2024 (2024). As usual, Hong Sang-soo delivers a typical, simple narrative filled with dialogue and character exploration on the concept of closeness within individuals, alienation, and conversations. Sang-soo always delivers arthouse drama that resembles Eric Rohmer's work in the modern generation and is filled with likable characters, strong performances, and dialogue that is most of the time, the feeling of lessons from a poetic novel or realistic conversations. With the simple production, writing, and direction, Sang-soo strays from some of the narrative goals, but overall, it stands out as another solid work from Hong.