Photo: © 2016 Showbox, Barunson E&A
Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned
Um Tae-hwa’s magical second film is both a melancholy fantasy about time shifting and - at a deeper level - an exploration of the world of childhood. Thirteen-year-old Su-rin (Shin Eun-su) moves to a remote island with her stepfather after her mother passes away and forms a special bond with Sung-min, a local orphan boy. They begin to share the same dreams and fantasies, even inventing a language of their own. One day, together with other kids, they visit a construction site deep within the mountains. Venturing into a cave, they find a glittering egg that, according to a local folktale, contains a time-eating monster. When the egg is broken, all the children disappear except Su-rin. The police naturally conclude that the children were abducted. The plot thickens when, a few days later, a mysterious man (Gang Dong-won, in a haunted and haunting performance) appears and claims to be her friend Sung-min.
