The twentieth London Korean Film Festival runs 5–18 November across BFI Southbank, ICA, and Ciné Lumière. Tucked among the prestige dramas and retrospectives is a thread of stranger work. These eight titles lean toward obsession, decay, or a streak of madness…
Hi-Five (하이파이브)
Fri 7 Nov | 6:20 pm | Ciné Lumière
A dead organ donor leaves five recipients with unpredictable powers. Kang Hyeong-cheol turns the premise into a wild superpower comedy that keeps tripping into body horror and delirium. Big, noisy, and unashamedly strange.
The Land of Morning Calm (아침바다 갈매기는)
Sat 8 Nov | 6:30 pm | ICA
When a fisherman disappears, secrets in a weather-beaten coastal village start to surface. Park Ri-woong’s debut unfolds in mists and murmurs, a slow, haunting study of guilt and survival that earned major awards at Busan.
Silver Apricot (은빛살구)
Sun 9 Nov | 1:30 pm | ICA
By day, Jung-seo designs in Seoul. By night, she draws a vampire webtoon. Returning home to chase her father’s debts, everyday reality starts to feel infected by her own art. Jang Man-min turns family tension into quiet fever.
The Informant (정보원)
Sun 9 Nov | 3:00 pm | BFI Southbank
A bumbling cop and a silver-tongued informant spiral through disguise and deceit. Kim Seok’s action comedy moves with pulp energy and sharp comic timing. Smart, fast, and gleefully cynical.
The Truth Beneath (비밀은 없다)
Sun 9 Nov | 8:40 pm | BFI Southbank
During an election campaign, a politician’s daughter disappears and her mother’s search rips through the family image. A precise thriller of ambition, damage, and the stories people sell to stay afloat.
Red Nails (홍이)
Tue 11 Nov | 6:20 pm | BFI Southbank
Hong, deep in debt, brings her mother home from a care facility as dementia sets in. Hwang Seul-gi stages their reunion with precision and dread. A cutting portrait of love, greed, and moral corrosion.
Commission (커미션)
Thu 13 Nov | 6:10 pm | BFI Southbank
Two sibling webtoon artists find their drawn murders reflected in real-world crime. Shin Jae-min turns creative rivalry into slow psychosis. A sharp, unnerving thriller about envy and erasure. Contains disturbing scenes.
Somebody (침범)
Sat 15 Nov | 8:45 pm | ICA
A mother’s struggle with her daughter’s violence echoes decades later in another woman’s life. Kim Yeo-jeong and Lee Jeong-chan braid two timelines into one pattern of guilt, secrecy, and dread.
Festival dates: 5–18 November 2025
Venues: BFI Southbank, ICA, Ciné Lumière
Full listings and tickets:
https://www.koreanfilm.co.uk/london-korean-film-festival-2025/
Maybe we’ll see you there!
Whitlock&Pope 