An gritty psychological thriller has been hailed by fans as a “complex masterpiece” and is “Certified Fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes. Burning (2018) is a Korean-language drama that tells the story of young aspiring novelist Lee Jong-su (played by Yoo Ah-in) who runs into old classmate Shin Hae-mi (Jeon Jong-seo) while making ends meet as a delivery worker.
The pair become romantically entwined, and he agrees to look after her cat while she goes travelling in Africa. She returns home with Ben, played by The Walking Dead and Beef star Steven Yeun, whom she met during her time away. Ben begins to reveal darker sides to his character, and Jong-su becomes concerned for Hae-mi’s safety.
The film was co-written, produced, and directed by Lee Chang-dong and won the prestigeous FIPRESCI International Critics’ Prize at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
It was based on Barn Burning, a short story from Haruki Murakami’s The Elephant Vanishes.
One Audience Reviewer on Rotten Tomatoes called the film “gritty”, adding that Lee “delivers an enthralling drama mystery that will leave you feeling broken inside, but also with so many questions”.
They added that Steven Yeun “is deliciously good in this”.
“A second viewing confirms, this is a complex masterpiece by one of the few great directors in the world.
“Wending together all kinds of threads – societal, literary, character based – the viewer gets to absorb all of these many elements that Chang-dong Lee brings together to weigh upon his lead character.
Some fans suggested the pacing of the film is a little slow, though the fan urged viewers to be “patient” as it “only gradually brings its threads together in an artfully offhand way before it coheres to register its impact”.
A third said: “This is three kinds of movies in one (a character study, a mystery, and a revenge thriller) and yet each of these classifications fail to adequately describe all or even part of “Burning” as Chang-dong Lee continually undermines or subverts your expectations.
They concluded the mystery thriller is a “haunting enigma”.
It is also highly rated among critics on the platform, with a near-perfect 95% score on its Tomatometer (percentage of Approved Tomatometer Critics who have given this it a positive review).
The film is rated 15 and features strong violence, sex, nudity, and drug misuse, the British Board of Film Classification notes, so it may not be for everyone.
Burning is streaming now on Netflix.