Memories of Murder

• In 1986, two detectives work to catch South Korea’s first serial killer.

• Uses a surface crime of serial murders to unravel the deeper crimes committed by the government and police forces toward the people.

The Host

• When American military personnel are responsible for the release of toxic chemicals into the Han river, a monster emerges from the tainted water and wreaks havoc on the city.

• A monster film where the monster is not the cause of the horrors as much as it is a symptom of the social and governmental systems that created it and perpetuate its ramifications.

Both films questions the South Korean people’s complacency with the crimes of their government and allowance of the lower class to fight their battle alone.

Snowpiercer

• In a post apocalyptic world, humanity is confined to a train where passengers are separated by class.

• Class relations are plainly depicted in a capitalistic society that cannot veer from its tracks unless altogether abandoned.

Okja

• A young girl must rescue her giant mutant pig when a greedy corporation steals it from her so that it can propel their eco-capitalistic campaign.

• Okja demonstrates capitalism’s prioritization of monetary consumption that apathetically objectifies everyone and everything as a product able to be sold.

When two North Korean soldiers are found dead and another wounded, an investigation is held to determine the truth behind two contradicting testimonies by the North Korean survivor and the South Korean soldier found limping back from the North side of the DMZ.

As it is later revealed that two of the North Korean soldiers involved were indeed friends of the Southern soldier and the shooting was not sparked from malicious intent, the film touches on the humanity of these opposing military personnel as they find camaraderie with each other based on emotional rather than political connections.

In 1930s colonial Korea, a young pickpocket gets caught up in a scam in which she must pose as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress.

The film uses sex to address oppression and exploitation by the hands of men and allows female sexuality to transcend the male gaze into a form of empowerment.