Yoo Hae-jin’s ‘Modup’ starts filming in September — Who is making a screen comeback after 10 years?

An island bound by a strange knot as the occult craze begins anew

Yoo Hae-jin, one of the leading actors in ‘Exhuma’, which drew 10 million moviegoers, is returning to the world of chilling mysteries. Showbox, the film’s distributor, announced on Sept. 1 that it had cast Yoo as the lead in the occult film ‘Modup’ and would begin full-scale filming this month.

The title ‘Modup’ is a dialectal word from South Jeolla province meaning “knot.” Set in the 1960s on a strange, remote island that outsiders had not visited for many years, the film portrays with intensity the downfall of a group of people bound together like an inescapable curse.

Yoo Hae-jin anchors the story as ‘Lee Do’, the head of a fishing village. He plays a man who fiercely guards his isolated island community while remaining deeply wary of the outside world. His weighty charisma is expected to drive the tension throughout the story.

Playing his son is actor Im Si-wan. Im portrays ‘Sang-gun’, Lee Do’s son, showcasing the character’s reckless determination to push relentlessly ahead once he has made up his mind. After receiving a request from a mysterious figure named Seon-ok, Sang-gun heads to the forbidden island and becomes caught up in the maelstrom of events.

Kim So-hyun has been cast as ‘Seon-ok’, who sets foot on the island in search of a cure for an unknown illness. The film marks her return to the big screen 10 years after the 2016 movie ‘The Last Princess’, promising to showcase an even deeper range as an actress. Lee Moo-saeng, who demonstrated commanding screen presence in the series ‘The Glory’ and ‘The World of the Married’, will play Seon-ok’s father, ‘Gu-taek’, further heightening the suspense. (Corrected from Kim Moo-saeng in the original after fact-checking.)

The film is the commercial debut of director Park Jong-hyun, who honed his directorial skills on ‘A Normal Family’ and ‘Broker’. Kang Yoon-sung, director of ‘The Roundup’, is also joining as executive producer, further raising expectations for the film’s quality.

“We are opening the first day of filming in September, when cool breezes are blowing,” Yoo Hae-jin said. “I hope all the cast and crew can safely complete the shoot, and I will work to create a great film that will overwhelm audiences,” he said of his ambitions.