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Burning

Play trailer 1:44 Poster for Burning Released Oct 26, 2018 2h 28m Mystery & Thriller Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
95% Tomatometer 197 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Jong-soo runs into Hae-mi, a girl who once lived in his neighborhood, and she asks him to watch her cat while she's out of town. When she returns, she introduces him to Ben, a man she met on the trip. Ben proceeds to tell Jong-soo about his hobby.
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Burning

Burning

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Critics Consensus

Burning patiently lures audiences into a slow-burning character study that ultimately rewards the viewer's patience -- and subverts many of their expectations.

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Critics Reviews

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David Stratton The Australian Burning...refers to the resentment and the anger felt by the young and struggling towards the rich and overbearing. Revelations like these hover just beneath the surface of this beautifully directed mystery. Rated: 4.5/5 Apr 25, 2019 Full Review Wenlei Ma News.com.au Lee hypnotises with his story of a love triangle, crafting a movie that could be described as visual poetry. Rated: 4.5/5 Apr 21, 2019 Full Review Jake Wilson The Age (Australia) This is the kind of film that all but demands a second viewing in order to appreciate the complex elegance of the design, assembled from details systematically calculated to lend themselves to more than one interpretation. Rated: 4/5 Apr 19, 2019 Full Review Bianca Garner Filmotomy Burning still holds up to multiple viewings, because it’s not really about one particular mystery regarding a missing young woman. The film is dealing with a much bigger mystery…what is our purpose in life? Oct 10, 2024 Full Review Calum Cooper Source (Scotland) But no matter which way you choose to interpret the film, we’re left with a hauntingly engrossing experience that’s going to gnaw away at my psyche for weeks to come. Rated: 4/5 Jul 14, 2024 Full Review Juan Pablo Russo EscribiendoCine ... A captivating film that explores mysteries, class struggles, and fiery love triangles. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 9/10 Jan 2, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (210) audience reviews
GARY D A second viewing confirms, this is a complex masterpiece by one of the few great directors in the world. Wending together all kinds of threads--societal, literary, character based--the viewer gets to absorb all of these many elements that Chang-dong Lee brings together to weigh upon his lead character. Artfully shot, astutely set decorated, and beautifully acted. I resist writing more specifically because it's up to the viewer to experience this movie first hand for him or herself. I can only say in one word: "do." And be patient, too, because the film only gradually brings its threads together in an artfully offhand way before it coheres to register its impact. To repeat, a masterpiece. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/23/25 Full Review Penny C Beautifully acted but boring. Two and half hours, maybe the length it took to give the lovely actress a boob job half way through the movie. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 12/31/24 Full Review Alan L Low key, expertly made, observation film with layers and layers. You're almost in the frame with them. Were taken on a ride, expertly led, gently, to just watch him go along for the ride with the others, the ambiguity makes you curious z expectant, then slowly things start to change. So very different. And now I've seen a few Korean movies, as stellar as the others. Satisfying, slow cooking. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/10/24 Full Review Neal C Emperor's new clothes. It keep promising to deliver what the critics say and never does. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 12/01/24 Full Review Mon B There appears to be two camps here. We have those that love this film, for it is a brilliant metaphor, superbly acted, and subtle in delivery until the climax of the film. And then there are those of us that found it so boring, we just weren't sure we could finish it, and yet, we did. Maybe we even vowed to stop listening to critics reviews altogether. This movie was well acted, and attractively filmed. But so, very, boring. There was one scene in which we all literally watched the sunset, and as it got darker, I thought they must have left the camera on and went out for dinner. And to those pompous reviewers who say we just didn't understand that it was a metaphor-yes, we do know what a metaphor is, but I demand that even my metaphorical flicks have a story, and present itself in an entertaining way. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 11/17/24 Full Review julie b Slow burn, at times too slow, with a persistent chill and aching discomfort, as well as a solid amount of ambiguity. Most importantly, Steven Yeun is 🔥incredible🔥 - clearly a villain but also funny, mysterious, and infuriatingly arrogant, but I found the other characters lacked sufficient definition. Also, at times it jumped around a bit and there were things introduced but not explored. I struggled with rating this and haven’t fully made up my mind - somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars. “I make my own offering and consume it” Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/19/24 Full Review Read all reviews
Burning

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Cast & Crew

Burning

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Movie Info

Synopsis Jong-soo runs into Hae-mi, a girl who once lived in his neighborhood, and she asks him to watch her cat while she's out of town. When she returns, she introduces him to Ben, a man she met on the trip. Ben proceeds to tell Jong-soo about his hobby.
Director
Lee Chang-dong
Producer
Lee Chang-dong, Lee Joon-dong, Ok Gwang-hui
Screenwriter
Oh Jungmi, Lee Chang-dong
Distributor
Well Go USA
Production Co
Pine House Film, NOW Films, NHK
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language
Korean
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 26, 2018, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 29, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA)
$715.0K
Runtime
2h 28m
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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