Possible Love

Possible Love follows the intertwined relationship of two married couples facing different paths and hidden desires. Mi-ok (Jeon Do-yeon) lives quietly with her laid-off husband Ho-seok (Sul Kyung-gu) and their young son Cheol until a funeral brings them into the orbit of Ye-ji (Cho Yeo-jeong), a documentary filmmaker chronicling laid-off workers, and her husband Sang-woo (Zo In-sung) – a couple whose affluent lifestyle stands in sharp contrast to their own. When Mi-ok agrees to be filmed, she grows close to Ye-ji, and finds herself uneasily drawn to the unreadable Sang-woo. As their worlds collide, fractures begin to appear in their daily existence. Marking his first release in eight years, highly acclaimed director Lee Chang-dong (Burning, Poetry, Secret Sunshine) brings his signature nuance to Possible Love, capturing shifting emotions, conflicts, and contrasting outlooks that shape these relationships.

The Garden Cinema View:

It’s been a long eight years for fans of the outstanding Korean director Lee Chang-dong but, as ever, it was worth the wait. Over three decades and seven features, Lee has proven himself to be one of the great chronicles of human suffering, dignity, and recovery, as well as demonstrating an extraordinary capacity for empathy. His films scrutinise ‘normal’ lives, often through their darkest and most disturbing moments, or as they career off into the margins of society. Spread out over long running times (Possible Love being his longest film to date), his work is often compared to literature – fittingly he is also a published short story writer. There is something in his observational style that feels novelistic; allowing the process of simply being with his vivid characters to bring out all kinds of unsaid feelings in the viewer.

Possible Love also showcases Lee’s talent with actors and all four main cast members are extraordinary. Zo In-sung, fresh from his horse-back heroics in Hope, and Cho Yeo-jeong, riffing on her adjacent role in Parasite, make for a seemingly well-meaning, but increasingly insincere filmmaking pair. Returning Lee favourite Sul Kyung-gu (Peppermint Candy, Oasis) creates another brutally repressed and internalised character, whilst Jeon Do-yeon (Secret Sunshine) is arguably the standout.

Possible Love addresses labour movements, capitalist exploitation, class conflict, and an array of complexities surrounding documentary filmmaking. But at heart, it is an incisive examination of the infinite complexities of human relationships.

Cast:
Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung, Cho Yeo-jeong

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Lee Chang-dong, South Korea, USA, 2026, 164m.