Photo: Courtesy of M-Line Distribution
A Single Rider
First-time director Lee Zoo-young offers a beguiling elegy for an irretrievably lost past, told from the perspective of a man fallen from grace. Fund manager Kang Jae-hoon (Lee Byung-hun, NYAFF 2016 Star Asia Award) witnesses his own life fall apart after the scandalous bankruptcy of his firm, relayed in a saddening montage. Jae-hoon leaves his Seoul office behind and books a one-way ticket to Sydney, where his estranged wife Soo-jin (Kong Hyo-jin) and son Jin-woo (Yeong Yoo-jin) live. But there, Jae-hoon finds himself a stranger to his beloved wife, a former violinist, who is rekindling her love for music. Meanwhile an unlikely romance is blooming between her and her Australian neighbor Chris (Jack Campbell), a burly but good-natured construction worker. Day after day, Kang strolls down the street where Soo-jin lives, never making his presence known — until he encounters Gina (K-pop star Ahn So-hee), another lost soul.