

Hopeless

Yeon-gyu is a teenage boy who wants to escape his hometown where violence is commonly enacted among neighbors. He only hopes to have a peaceful life with his mother. However, the world never allows him to have a dream nor hope for life. When Yeon-gyu needs a hand from grown-ups, Chi-geon, a thug of the town, offers a favor. The simple favor leads Yeon-gyu to explore the world of Chi-geon. It ironically results Yeon-gyu gradually falling into Chi-geon's life. Grasping hope to run away from where he is, he struggles between the border. Can he escape from the town at the end?
A highly enjoyably Neo Noir movie that illustrate perfectly the snowball effect of violence and its detrimental effect but also the snowballing impact of our own choices, it depicts how it is often hard for the youth to find their own place in the world and to escape this sort of claustrophobic society they live in while dealing with family struggle and multiple form of abuse.
The movie has some flaws such as the length, the montage that could have been better, and a very noticeable problem when it comes to the rhythm, nevertheless for his first feature film Kim Chang-hoon proves that he is an extremely talented director and that we should be attentive to his upcoming projects.
Very nice movie.
8/10.