DREAM PALACE
드림팰리스

South Korea2022112:00Korean with English Subtitles International PremiereDrama

Hye-jeong leaves a protest group of closely knit families, mourning the victims of an industrial accident, to which she also lost her husband. To move on with her life, she buys a sparkly new apartment with the settlement money, but things go awry when she notices the unit's construction defects that render her and her son without any usable water. When she attempts to get the problem fixed, an unexpected group stops her in the act: her new neighbours. Beyond being ostracized and called a traitor for accepting the settlement money, Hye-jeong must now stand up against her neighbours, who would do everything in their power to stop her from making the defects publicly known, for fear of their real estate getting devalued.

Having a place you can call your own in this day and age is a luxury, amid skyrocketing housing prices. That is why what seems very local and realistic in Dream Palace also resonates internationally. Seasoned actress Kim Sun-young of Three Sisters (2020) plays Hye-jeong, while the film makes a new discovery with Lee Yoon-ji, who puts up her most persuasive performance to date. The fresh yet ironic struggles between victims against victims will leave an unsettling aftertaste that tears one apart between conscience and the desperate need to survive. 

– June Kim