[New Film] ‘Halo,’ First Korean Film to Win at Tokyo Film Festival, Opens Nov. 11 — A 27-Year-Old’s Dream

Artistic ambition blooms amid a precarious daily life and the gulf between dreams and reality

‘Halo,’ the feature debut of director Noh Young-wan, which takes an in-depth look at the harsh life of a young man making ends meet through delivery work, arrives in theaters on the 11th of next month.

The film brings to the screen the stark daily life of Min-jun (played by Choi Kang-hyun), a 27-year-old who gets by day after day delivering packages. It has won critical praise for its meticulous portrayal of a young man who, despite being trapped in grueling physical labor, refuses to give up on his long-held dream of becoming a filmmaker.

It is not just the exhaustion of labor that weighs on the protagonist. His father struggles with alcohol dependence, his mother is constantly at odds with him, and his older brother has an intellectual disability. The heavy responsibility of family binds him tightly to the mire of reality.

Then Min-jun unexpectedly hears something from an astrologer (played by Lee Jae-yong), whom he encounters by chance. The astrologer tells him that he lacks the unique energy that inhabits artists and that he can only truly shine if he goes abroad. The advice leads him to decide to take a leap into an unfamiliar land, but unexpected barriers in the real world once again block his path.

The film’s greatest aesthetic achievement is its striking realism, created through handheld cinematography, a technique in which the camera is operated by hand. The unsteady framing conveys, in raw form, the physical fatigue and unsettled state of mind that come with working as a delivery driver. Much of the film’s runtime is filled with vivid records of life on the job.

Director Noh Young-wan, who honed his craft on the production teams of ‘Spirits’ Homecoming’ (2016) and ‘The Singer’ (2020), has made a meaningful mark on Korean cinema with his debut. Last year, the film became the first Korean film to win Best Film in the Asian Future section, which spotlights emerging directors, at the 37th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF).

Noh Young-wan said, “Seeing a delivery worker pass by on the street at dawn made me reflect on the lives of people who are marginalized even as they serve as the arteries of society,” adding, “I hope the film will give viewers a chance to look at the world we stand on and the lives of others, even amid a cold and desolate reality.”