The implacable forces of nature, nurture and destiny are what this movie grapples with; it is a really emotional and absorbing drama about adoption with terrific performances (many from nonprofessional first-timers) and compelling soundtrack musical cues. Franco-Cambodian film-maker Davy Chou directs, co-writing the screenplay with artist Laure Badufle, a Korean adoptee brought up in France whose personal story inspired the film.
Park Ji-min makes her acting debut in a role that mirrors her own life as well as Badufle’s: a Korean with adoptive French parents. She plays Freddie Benoît, a footloose twentysomething who on a whim comes on a trip to Seoul, checks into a hostel for foreigners and imperiously decides that the polite, French-speaking receptionist Tena, subtly played by author Guka Han, will be her submissive best friend. Freddie is smart, stylish, a badass and force of nature who impulsively invites everyone in a local cafe to join her at her table where she is holding court with Tena and Tena’s shy friend Jiwan (Kim Dong-Seok); she later seduces and then airily rejects him when the poor infatuated guy pathetically declares his eternal love.
