(Movie Review) ′The World of Love′: a quietly powerful film that celebrates life′s resilience

(Movie Review) 'The World of Love': a quietly powerful film that celebrates life's resilience: K-DRAMA&FILM / 심선아 / 2025-10-20 09:00:05

(Movie Review) 'The World of Love'

▲ This photo provided by Barunson E&A is a scene from the Korean drama film "The World of Love." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

(Movie Review) 'The World of Love'

(Movie Review) 'The World of Love': a quietly powerful film that celebrates life's resilience

By Shim Sun-ah

SEOUL, Oct. 20 (Yonhap) -- At 18, Lee Joo-in (Seo Su-bin) seems to have everything. She's the class president, a top student and effortlessly popular among her peers. While her main preoccupation seems to be romance, she navigates life with a bright, confident energy, living a full and seemingly ordinary life despite a shadow in her past.

Her world is shaken when news breaks that a notorious child sex offender is being released from prison and returning to live in her very neighborhood.

Alarmed for his younger sister, Joo-in's classmate Su-ho (Kim Jeong-sik) starts a petition to protest the man's return. Every student in the school signs without hesitation -- except Joo-in. She refuses, objecting to the petition's wording, which leads to a tense confrontation with Su-ho.

In a burst of anger, Joo-in blurts out something that stuns her classmates into silence. Soon after, she begins receiving mysterious, anonymous notes.

"The World of Love" marks the long-awaited return of director Yoon Ga-eun, six years after her acclaimed films "The World of Us" (2016) and "The House of Us" (2019). Known for her sensitive and authentic portrayals of childhood, Yoon turns her gaze to the turbulent world of adolescence, exploring a far more complex emotional and social terrain.

Through Joo-in's story, the film examines society's urge to label victims of trauma as either "pitiable" or "unfortunate." Yoon challenges that binary while arguing that healing requires acknowledgment, not concealment. A scar, the film suggests, is merely a trace of a past injury, not the wound itself.

With a cast of distinctive, realistic characters, the film is meticulously crafted, weaving together seemingly unrelated events into a cohesive, resonant narrative. What first appears incidental later converges around the film's central theme, maintaining quiet tension throughout.

Seo Su-bin delivers a remarkable debut performance, delivering the nuanced emotional spectrum of a teenager -- from radiant, carefree charm to the raw devastation of a complete breakdown. As Joo-in's mother, veteran actor Chang Hyae-jin delivers a magnificent performance, portraying a woman who helps shoulder her daughter's trauma and walks with her on the path to healing.

"The World of Love" was the only Korean title selected for the Platform section, the main competitive program, at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival. The film opens in local theaters Wednesday.

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