Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Debut Feature Comes to Theaters: ‘Passion’ Opens Dec. 9

〈Passion〉 (Passion), the feature debut from director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, who rose to international prominence with 〈Drive My Car〉, will open in South Korean theaters on Dec. 9. A teaser poster and original trailer have been unveiled.

Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi won acclaim across the global film industry for 〈Drive My Car〉, which earned the Best Screenplay prize at the 74th Cannes Film Festival and the International Feature Film award at the 94th Academy Awards. He had previously drawn attention at the Locarno Film Festival with 〈Happy Hour〉, competed at Cannes with 〈Asako I & II〉, and won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival for 〈Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy〉, establishing a singular body of work. The cinematic blueprint for his films—an unrelenting exploration of the depths of the human psyche through everyday conversation, silence and subtle emotional clashes—is fully present in his debut, 〈Passion〉.

〈Passion〉 follows five people whose relationships begin to unravel after Tomoya (Ryuta Okamoto) and Kaho (Aoba Kawai) announce their engagement at a dinner with longtime friends, bringing past events and long-hidden feelings to the surface. The newly released teaser poster captures Takeshi (Kiyohiko Shibukawa), Tomoya, Kaho, Takako (Fusako Urabe) and Kenichiro (Nao Okabe) standing side by side in a gray space, each looking in a different direction. The tagline, “A life without love would be empty,” hints at the rifts and truths emerging between love and friendship. The accompanying trailer heightens the tension with distinctive editing that interweaves images and sound, along with the telling line, “Can you forgive me?”

Meanwhile, following the release of 〈Passion〉, Hamaguchi’s acclaimed films 〈Drive My Car〉 and 〈Happy Hour〉 are set for special re-releases on Dec. 23 to mark the fifth anniversaries of their releases.

〈Passion〉, a chance to trace the cinematic roots of acclaimed director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, opens in theaters on Dec. 9.