Director Yeon Sang-ho low-budget films are becoming a notable part of his prolific career, spanning animation, live-action features, and OTT series with consistent box office success. He earned international acclaim with his first feature animation ‘The King of Pigs’ (2011), which was invited to the Directors’ Fortnight at the 65th Cannes Film Festival, and later entered the ’10 million viewer’ club with his first live-action feature ‘Train to Busan’ (2016). His Netflix series ‘Hellbound’ (2021) also topped global charts upon release, cementing the global momentum of K-content.
While his smooth and glamorous filmography might not typically evoke the word ‘low-budget,’ Yeon has continued to embrace this approach. Following last year’s ‘The Face,’ he is releasing his latest low-budget film ‘Paradise Lost’ in theaters on the 21st, marking his return just five months after ‘The Swarm.’ Meeting reporters in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, on the 14th, he shared, ‘The biggest charm was being able to work without pressure,’ adding, ‘I want to make low-budget films every year until the day I die.’
The film tells the story of Soyoung (Kim Hyun-joo), a mother who loses her young son Sunwoo in a school bus kidnapping incident. Soyoung lives by interacting with an AI augmented reality program that replicates Sunwoo’s appearance and personality, only to face profound chaos when the real Sunwoo (Bae Hyun-sung) returns alive after nine years. With a running time of 100 minutes and a net production budget of 500 million won (approx. $380,000), filming was wrapped in just 14 shoots compared to the typical 40 to 70 shoots for a feature film (his previous film ‘The Face’ took 13 shoots).
Reflecting on low-budget filmmaking, Director Yeon noted, ‘We can shoot with high mobility and capture the contemporary atmosphere raw. Recently, the film industry has become highly sophisticated, making the process from planning to release extremely long and reducing spontaneity. Low-budget films offer freedom from that burden.’ The pressure on the break-even point is also significantly lower. ‘Paradise Lost’ aims for 500,000 admissions, though strong overseas pre-sales have already rendered the break-even point virtually irrelevant. Last year’s ‘The Face’ also targeted 500,000 viewers but ultimately drew over 1.08 million.
The box office success of story-driven, low-budget films is a trend recently mirrored in Hollywood, a shift Yeon has also noticed. Explaining his perspective, he said, ‘The YouTube videos watched by my fifth-grade daughter have very low production quality. When I observed closely, I realized people still watch if the story is fascinating or novel, regardless of low production value.’
As for why he continues to make theatrical films, Yeon emphasized the importance of ‘space.’ He stated, ‘YouTube and OTT are open spaces for everyone, but they are also enclosed spaces dictated by algorithms. A physical space like a movie theater completely changes the nature of how a film connects with its audience.’ He further noted that for the film industry to revive, ‘movies must pursue diversity alongside universality.’
