A cinematic portrait of the world today and the exceptional disparity within humanity. Acclaimed Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-dong is back with his latest feature film since bringing Burning to the 2018 Venice Film Festival. Eight years later he has returned to Venice to premiere his next film titled simply Possible Love, another masterfully intricate story about relationships, social status, wealth differences, frustrations in modern society, and family dynamics. After years in development, Netflix stepped up to fund & finish the film and is releasing it worldwide. Which is quite interesting because the film itself is all about the heinous actions of mega corporations and how they mistreat their workers. Not that Netflix does this, but they are nonetheless still a major corporation sometimes making strange decisions. The deception of Possible Love is that it’s not really about affairs or love or relationships, despite what the Netflix synopsis states. It’s instead a profound, complex, masterful exploration of social class dynamics and disparity in Korea (and around the world), focusing on two families and the impact of one corporation’s layoffs. It’s a heavy film that, like most of Lee Chang-dong’s work, is a reminder that the world now is truly screwed up and humans are not equal.
Possible Love is directed by Lee Chang-dong and co-written by Lee Chang-dong & Oh Jung-mi. It’s inspired by Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Dekalog anthology, but not really based on any specific episode nor is it a remake of any story. The protagonists are a couple named Mi-ok, played by Jeon Do-yeon, and Ho-seok, played by Sul Kyung-gu. When we meet them, the father is reserved and downtrodden – years ago he was laid off by his manufcaturing plant and has struggled with life ever since. It almost plays like a more serious spiritual sequel to Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice from last year. One day they randomly meet a documentary director named Ye-ji, played by Cho Yeo-jeong, and her husband Sang-woo, played by Zo In-sung. They seem nice enough and it turns out Ye-ji is making a film about the layoffs and she has now found the perfect subjects. Alas, this ultimately turns out to be critical commentary on how so many upper class filmmakers love to turn the lens on lower class people to make themselves feel like they’re connected, even though it’s ultimately just exploitation and “feel better” cinema. As the story plays out, they become more intertwined. It also tells the story of exactly what happened with Ho-seok and his work and how they tried to organize a strike in resistance until the police came and beat them up. It’s a brutally honest portrayal of how we can’t actually intermingle with other social classes even if we think it’s possible because we are all “nice people.”
There are so many layers to the story, so many carefully crafted scenes and moments that reflect the various dynamics of how wealth divides us. It all comes to a head in an exceptional 45 minute finale where the two families come together at a fancy vacation home with a private beach on the west coast of South Korea. My biggest issue with the film is that the 2 hours before this finale are strained and stretched and could be trimmed down to make the whole more engaging. It’s also so hopeless and sad at times, and so nuanced in its portrayal of these broken societal dynamics, that most people won’t come out of this feeling good about how we try to come together to fix the world and improve the lives of all humans. It’s a heavy story. Instead, it’s a cinematically mesmerizing examination of what is broken, and how it is broken, and how there are so many bogus attempts at trying to simply ignore the differences & see each other as equals. It’s never actually going to work, and everyone will remain in their place, no matter what feelings come up when spending time together. In this regard, I still prefer Burning more, which explores similar themes. Strangely, Possible Love also has the Netflix sheen and lacks the more dynamic cinematography found in Burning & his other films.
Possible Love is nonetheless still masterful modern cinema made by one of the most honest filmmakers who understands what is broken with society. He continues to focus the lens correctly on the actual problems, and the people that are stuck within this system, struggling simply to exist and be free and survive. There’s so much to consider, many aspects to analyze, and so much thoughtfulness within this otherwise depressing film. And that is something to celebrate even if it really doesn’t make me very good about humanity today.
Alex’s Venice 2026 Rating: 8 out of 10
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