Busan Film Festival - The Film Verdict

Hinotama: Ball of Fire

Posted by Ben Nicholson | Oct 12, 2026 | Festivals, Busan 2026 |

The precisely shot family drama Hinotama: Ball of Fire has a hint of the mystical and mysterious as it creates a suffocating milieu of detachment that is strangely compelling.

Bua

Posted by Ben Nicholson | Oct 11, 2026 | Festivals, Busan 2026 |

A striking mixed-race girl must navigate the harsh realities of womanhood in 1970s Thailand in Bua, a serviceable but ceaselessly grim drama.

The Cord

Posted by Ben Nicholson | Oct 9, 2026 | Festivals, Busan 2026 |

A mother’s world unravels when her only son is charged with a violent crime in the dark, chilly and pointed Kazakh drama The Cord.

Maze

Posted by Ben Nicholson | Sep 23, 2025 | Festivals, Busan 2025 |

Grief is the thing in Maze, Shin Sun’s subdued drama about a trio of people processing loss. An understated but absorbing meditation on guilt and recrimination.

En Route To

Posted by Ben Nicholson | Sep 19, 2025 | Festivals, Busan 2025 |

Yoo Jaein’s graduation film, ‘En Route To’, is both a clear-eyed drama about teenage pregnancy and a humorous, touching tale of female friendship.

Tag: Busan Film Festival

Hinotama: Ball of Fire

Bua

The Cord

Maze

En Route To