Hyuk-jin (Sam-dong Song), the lead of Daytime Drinking, must have a liver made of steel. During the first of many late-night drinking binges, complete with soju, the traditional Korean alcohol of choice, Hyuk-jin’s buddies persuade him to take a trip with them to Jeongseong to help him recover from his recent break up. Once out of Seoul, Hyuk-jin discovers that his friends, all nursing hangovers, have forgotten him and left him to contend with the harsh climate, his loneliness, and a slew of eccentric travelers along the way. Veering into a heightened reality in the same vein as Jim Jarmusch, Daytime Drinking finds its leading man toyed with by a temperamental girl, force-fed drinks, drugged, robbed, hit on by a trucker, and verbally abused by a plethora of tourists. Despite this exercise in emotional sadism, director Young-Seok Noh (who also wrote, edited, and produced) has clearly invested a lot even if his contrived film’s initial jolt of energy inevitably peters out, drained like the myriad bottles of soju. (Liesl Swanbeck)
Opens at the Four Star on Friday, August 21st.
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