When we first meet Yong-gi (Min-hyeong Joo), an unexceptional boy, and Ji-sook (Ji-hye Baek), a rather troubled girl in his school, the former is on the verge of doing something stupid for the latter just so she can escape the consequences of her bad behaviour. It’s standard stuff for high school kids. But as the story told in Funky Freaky Freaks, which is showing in the competition section of the 2025 Busan International Film Festival, unfurls, this power dynamic—boy sacrificing good sense to save girl from her own decisions—becomes a foretaste of a coming maelstrom.
There is some added tension in that the audience knows that Yong-gi is in love with Ji-sook, but she doesn’t know or doesn’t want to know—which, to be sure, are two different things.
In any case, their tricky relationship, which also features a third wheel pal, Dum-bo, continues. They hang out at his place and get up to no good as kids do. Everybody seems content with the arrangement, even if Dum-bo doesn’t quite get Yong-gi’s devotion to a girl who may or may not be his girlfriend. The relationship between the trio rings true in ways that show director Han Chang-lok as especially attuned to the zaniness of youth, a state of mind reflected in his herky-jerky editing choices and camera movements.
In time, Han’s screenplay introduces a new variable into its mostly stable equation in the person—and perfect facial features—of Woo-joo Jung, a national judoka with 100,000 followers on Instagram. The school is immediately taken in by the young man, who is also a rich kid. Ji-sook is immediately enamoured of the newcomer. She throws herself at him as Yong-gi looks on. He seems to not be too worried about it all but, again, the viewer knows that can’t really be true.
Alongside this adolescent romantic triangle—with its incel-adjacent brushes—Funky Freaky Freaks has adult concerns. Yong-gi’s absent mother is shacking up with her partner and doesn’t seem to be interested in her son. Ji-sook is anorexic, estranged from her classmates, and has barely survived beatings from her father. Dum-bo has a phone sex gig where he plays a horny girl. All of which makes it seem as though Han has transplanted the troubled kids in the HBO series Euphoria to a Korean high school. But because his actors are skilled performers with superb interpersonal chemistry, they emerge as their own persons.
Could Funky Freaky Freaks do without locating the problems of crazed youth in the damaging actions and inactions of their parents? Certainly. The love triangle is the film’s most realised thread and if Han had chosen to blame the resulting harm on hormones, few would complain. He’s chosen a different route. As a first-time filmmaker, he has padded his screenplay with psychological insight that isn’t unique—children have been the products of their parent’s flaws and glories since the beginning of procreation. This is however, not a fatal flaw. Funky Freaky Freaks is worth the time spent with its crazy young people as they hurtle towards the bleak future they have created for themselves. Programmers and film market experts considering new Korean cinema should be looking this way.
Alongside the performances, Kim Jongsoo’s jagged camera movements, as well as Han and Kim Jihyun’s editing choices give the film a propulsive jolt from start to finish, as the story becomes darker and darker following the introduction of Woo-joo, a kid who has demons—parental and sexual—operating beneath his pretty facade.
Han is clearly a talented filmmaker with a great eye for performers and weird visual flourishes. His first film doesn’t quite score high in originality but he’s certainly a filmmaker to follow.
Director: HAN Chang-lok
Cast: Min-hyeong JOO, Ji-hye BAEK, Soo-hyun JEONG, Jun-hang SHIN
Producers: Younkyung BAE, Jiwon LEE
Screenplay: Chang-lok HAN
Cinematography: Jong-soo KIM
Production Design: Ye-sle KIM
Editor: Ji-hyun KIM, Chang-lok HAN
Production Companies: Korea National University of Arts, apocofilm
Venue: Busan Film Festival (Competition)
Duration: 87 minutes
Language: Korean
