Abigail Harm

A quiet movie about needing to be honest in love, even if it's borne out of loneliness and an aching desire to have a connection with someone in this too-harsh world. It's based on a Korean folktale that's briefly summarized early on, something that sounded experimental and interesting. To his credit, Lee Isaac Chung certainly didn't play it safe here, and Amanda Plummer delivered a fine performance (that guttural voice she channeled while having a fight comes to mind).

One of the problems I had with the film, however, is that the parable is presented too literally - I mean, the "captured creature" or nymph is a man prancing about a deserted building in the nude like a woodland animal, for goodness sake. He communicates very little and behaves like a child, which made feeling the connection between the two difficult. A level of indirection would have helped. Chung also presents this story in such a minimalist way that many of scenes become tedious, even over just 80 minutes. It was hard to really feel the power of the emotions because of these choices. I liked what I think he was trying to do, but for me it fell short.