Indie gem captures the healing journey of three burnt-out idols
The K-pop industry's harsh toll on artists has prompted exposures of life behind the glory -- exploitative contracts, grueling training, body-shaming and psychological trauma that lingers long after the curtain falls. Korean cinema has largely skirted the issue, until "Time to Be Strong" zeroed in.
Fresh from a hat trick at May's Jeonju International Film Festival -- which included the Grand Prix and Best Actor awards -- director Namkoong Sun's sophomore feature, commissioned and produced by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, follows three former idols traveling to Jeju Island. What starts as an attempt to reclaim their missed high school trip goes awry after a restaurant brawl leaves them broke from settlement fees.
The troubled trio -- Soo-min (Choi Sung-eun), an ex-girl group leader with bulimia; Sa-rang (Ha Seo-yoon), her former bandmate living with mental illness; and Tae-hee (Hyeon Woo-seok), the perpetually upbeat but debt-ridden boy band castoff -- end up working at a local tangerine orchard to get by, each grappling with painful memories.
Like a delicate music box, the film's modest machinery functions well, though it may not be pitch-perfect. It falters when it attempts to make sweeping indictments against the system: predatory "slave contracts" binding artists for years, female idols forced onto birth control to perform in revealing outfits, allusions to sexual abuse -- each of which, however outrageous, largely lands flat over long, stilted dialogue.
The film finds its rhythm, though, when it steps back from grand statements to focus on the personal repercussions, observing its broken young protagonists with empathy. It's a tightrope act on display that occasionally edges towards self-pity but ultimately manages to avoid wallowing in it.
The low-budget aesthetic works in the film's favor. Handheld cameras dwell on Jeju's everyday sights, like planes crossing clouds and the neighborhood's athletic tracks, to effectively highlight how foreign ordinary life feels to these young individuals so consumed by the industry's inhuman demands.
Choi Sung-eun's measured performance lends depth to Soo-min, whose compulsive drive for perfection manifests as an eating disorder and pushing herself to exhaustion in the orchard fields. A standout scene captures her breakdown in close-up, mixing dreamy lighting with faint echoes of her group's hit song. Ha and Hyeon also deliver solid supporting work, particularly Hyeon's Tae-hee, whose forced cheer masks a deeper pain. (It's an uncanny coincidence that the main cast bears a certain resemblance to some of K-pop's biggest stars.)
Above all, the film finds unexpected heart in Kang Chae-yoon's dorky but endearingly sincere fangirl, her honest affection standing apart from the industry's manufactured, hyper-organized fan culture. Her simple gestures of goodwill -- playing and singing along to their old songs, showing them how to enjoy life while acting as an impromptu tour guide -- become literal beacons of hope for the protagonists.
"Time to Be Strong" doesn't pretend to resolve its characters' trauma, nor does it fully prosecute the industry's sins. Instead, it offers a modest portrait of, and a moment of respite for, heartbroken youth struggling to find their feet again, suggesting that even after the spotlight fades, there might be value in simply learning to "have fun."
