Overview
- The film had its Venice Film Festival competition premiere on Sunday and drew a reported six-to-seven-minute standing ovation, with critics delivering widespread praise.
- Lee returned to features after an eight-year gap with a story rooted in a 2009 mass layoff and strike that left workers traumatised, material he revived by adding a filmmaker character at co-writer Oh Jung‑mi’s suggestion.
- Jeon Do‑yeon, Sul Kyung‑gu, Cho Yeo‑jeong and Zo In‑sung lead the cast as two married couples whose lives collide when a documentary about laid‑off workers brings them together.
- Netflix financed the film and has set a limited theatrical rollout beginning October 23, 2026, followed by global streaming on Netflix from November 6, 2026, with the distributor planning an awards campaign.
- Beyond awards prospects, coverage highlights two central debates the film raises: the human toll of mass layoffs on workers and the ethical questions of whether and how filmmakers should tell others’ traumatic stories.