‘Black Light’ Review: Bae Jong-dae’s Impressive Debut Walks on the Edge of Guilt and Redemption

Bae Jong-dae’s “Black Light” is an impressive debut that examines the consequences of grief, guilt, and redemption.

In this slow-burn psychological drama, a car accident happened, and the victims’ families are ridden by guilt. The dead man’s wife struggles to move forward but then learns that the accident might actually was an incident, making her start to reinvestigate the case all over again.

With the terrific performances from three leading actresses Yeom Hye-ran, Si-eun Kim, and Ji-hu Park (especially Park whose from one my favorite films last year “House of Hummingbird”), “Black Light” becomes a tightly controlled psychodrama that delivers very raw emotional weight for these damaged characters. As we come close to the ugly truth, unwanted secrets come out. However, the truth actually doesn’t matter, the waves of guilt and grief have spread out already.

GRADE: B

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• Distributor: Echelon Studios
• Production: Film New Wave
• Director: Jong-dae Bae
• Writer: Jong-dae Bae
• Producer: Young-hwa Moon and Ho-bin Seo
• Cast: Yeom Hye-ran, Si-eun Kim, and Ji-hu Park

Read the review in Chinese