Lee Chang-dong, Jeon Do-yeon and Sul Kyung-gu on Class, Desire and Reunion in Venice Competition Drama ‘Possible Love’ — SkimNews
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- Lee Chang-dong directed 'Possible Love,' his first feature since 2018’s 'Burning,' which premiered in competition at Venice and will open in theaters on Oct. 23 before streaming on Netflix from Nov. 6
- Jeon Do-yeon stars as Mi-ok, a factory worker navigating marital strain after her husband’s layoff, drawing on personal emotional resonance to portray a woman harboring a 'ticking time bomb' of anxiety
- Sul Kyung-gu reprises his collaboration with Lee after 24 years, playing Ho-seok, a laid-off man concealing rage and shame beneath silence, embodying what he calls a 'universal Korean man'
- Cho Yeo-jeong and Zo In-sung join Lee’s ensemble for the first time, portraying a wealthy filmmaker couple whose detachment exposes the invisible barriers of class and privilege
- Lee Chang-dong framed the film around ethical questions about storytelling, asking whether filmmakers are justified in using others’ suffering for art — a dilemma rooted in his abandoned 2009 script about real worker protests
- Possible Love centers on a 2009 mass layoff and 70-day strike followed by violent crackdowns, events that initially deterred Lee from fictionalizing them due to concerns over authenticity and exploitation
Why it matters: The film’s release on Netflix just 14 days after its theatrical debut shortens the traditional window significantly, accelerating access for global audiences while testing the balance between festival prestige and streaming reach — a shift that benefits viewers and distributors but may challenge arthouse cinema’s conventional rollout model.
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