Burning (2018)

Burning has that special quality of staying with you long after you leave the theater. This movie haunted me for a week. It's a slow burn as the title suggests. The tension builds and builds until finally it yearns for release in this psychological "thriller".  None of the questions are answered, but all the answers are implied. That intense atmosphere manifests on screen in silence, glances, colors, mise-en-scene and the contrast between flashy Gangnam and the North Korean countryside border. Is it possible to feel the milieu? Because it gave me goosebumps. Steven Yeun is so devilishly good in Korean, you easily forget that it is his first Korean role.

Secret Sunshine (Miryang) (2007)

Secret Sunshine is about grief. It's about faith. It's a bold, powerful movie anchored by a visceral performance from Jeon Do-yeon. What she conveys in just looks is as strong as the words and cries. She is such a complex character feeling a wide range of lows. There is a particularly stirring scene in a prison in which we face a murderer who has been saved. It is not her most emotional scene. But it is a turning point for her. And her blank stare we can read so much suffering. The movie goes really deep into her suffering.