This funny, chaotic, madcap film tumbles you through an ever shifting farce.

Director Kim (an always charming Song Kang-ho) has struggled to reach the creative heights and reputation of his predecessor, Director Shin. With his latest B-grade racy drama about to wrap, he dreams up a new ending that will ‘make it a masterpiece’. It means a ‘small re-shoot’ but can he get it past the studio head, President Baek (Jang Young-nam) and the censorship board?

Director Kim Jee-woon keeps us off kilter, tricking us with scenes that look real then are revealed to be a film scene then are revealed to be a dream. Every character is turned up to 11, in keeping with the soapy film noir that Kim (the film one) is making.

The star turns are bullish naif Mi-do (Jeon Yeo-been) and the amiably manipulative starlet Yu-rim, (Krystal Jung). The latter seems to be the only one who realises it’s all a game to be played.

I’m not sure that it has much depth and it feels like an accomplished director playing with genre. Seeing it with a festival audience, though, meant there was a lot of laughter at the ridiculous antics and the diabolical ending, which helped make it an enjoyable journey.

Director: Kim Jee-woon
Origin: South Korea (2023)
Language: Korean with English subtitles
Genre: Comedy

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