We continue with our list of feature films you shouldn’t miss at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival which will take place from July 3 – 13, 2025 in Bucheon, South Korea.

New Group by Shimotsu Yuta – Japan | 2025 – 82 minutes | World Premiere
Section: Bucheon Choice: Features

Ai, a high school girl raised in a seemingly happy but unstable family, has no clear plans for the future or a strong sense of self. She becomes intrigued by Yu, a transfer student with a personality opposite to her own. One day, a human pyramid is built on the school playground, and teachers force students to take part. Ai and Yu are unsettled by this coercive atmosphere and begin to sense a strange energy. The reality around them grows increasingly grotesque and disturbing. This work embodies a new form of ‘group’ born from the clash between extreme individualism and oppressive collectivism, portrayed through an unsettling and bizarre perspective. The mutual oppression between individuals and groups – and the chilling fear it creates – reflects a sensibility unique to this era. (Martin LEE)

Only God Knows Everything by Paek Seung-kwan – Korea | 2025 – 116 minutes | World Premiere
Section: Korean Fantastic: Features

Thirteen years ago, Do Woon’s mother suddenly disappeared without a trace. Raised by a priest in the aftermath of that trauma, Do Woon grows up bearing the wound of loss and eventually becomes a priest himself. Now, he listens to the confessions of others—but within him remains the unresolved mystery and absence of his mother. One day, a stranger enters the confessional and calmly says, “We killed your mother.” That chilling confession sets everything in motion. As rage and a thirst for vengeance—emotions forbidden to a man of the cloth—begin to stir within him, Do Woon crosses the line he was never meant to approach, pursuing the truth behind his mother’s disappearance. Detective Joo Young joins him in the investigation, navigating a precarious path between reality and superstition, reason and belief. As the truth slowly unravels through the symbolic mechanism of confession, the story masterfully weaves together elements of shamanism, religion, and crime, heightening the tension of this occult thriller. (Kani KIM)

Possession Street by jack Lai – Hong Kong, China | 2024 – 95 minutes | Korean Premiere
Section: Adrenaline Ride

Set in a decaying shopping mall in Hong Kong, this zombie apocalypse horror film depicts the struggles of humans and zombies in a limited space that seems to have stopped time in the 80s. One day, a sealed black magic entity is unleashed in the mall’s basement, spreading an orange powder that turns those who inhale it into zombies who attack humans. (KIM Youngwoo)

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REDUX REDUX by Kevin McManus, Matthew McManus – USA | 2025 – 109 minutes
Section: Bucheon Choice: Features

When a serial killer, Neville, murders Irene’s teenage daughter, Anna, she takes it upon herself to avenge the death by jumping through the multiverse and killing him over and over again, through the use of her time machine. The repeated killings have created a void in Irene, and when she meets Mia, a runaway teen, and saves her from being murdered, her sole salvation now is to bring Mia home alive, just as in the case with Anna. (Jongsuk Thomas NAM)

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Sisterhood by Yoon Eunkyoung – Korea | 2025 – 95 minutes | World Premiere
Section: Korean Fantastic: Features

What is real, and what is fake? Sisterhood is a film that moves toward an answer to this question, and as such, nothing presented before the ending should be trusted too easily. Jung Yul-hee (Kim Jooryoung) is a bestselling author often dubbed the ‘Queen of Mystery’. After inheriting a house from her father, she relocates to a remote area with her daughter So-hee (Choi Myeong Been). Struggling to juggle her new novel and her daughter’s school life, Yul-hee hires Mi-jee (Han Ji Hyeon), a local girl who has become close to So-hee, as a kind of housekeeper. Mi-jee claims to be a devoted fan of Yul-hee’s writing, and at first, everything seems to go smoothly. But cracks slowly begin to form in their relationship. (HUH Namwoong)

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Suicide Notes Laid on the Table by Hanabusa Tsutomu – Japan | 2025 – 120 minutes | International Premiere
Section: Adrenaline Ride

11th grade, Class 2-D. One day, a mysterious ranking list of the homeroom teacher and all 24 students is sent via text message to everyone in the class. No one knows who made it or what criteria it was based on. At the top of the list is always Tsubaki – a model student, kind and universally loved. But six months later, Tsubaki is found dead in the school bathroom, an apparent suicide. After the funeral, the students return to class – only to find an envelope left by Tsubaki on each of their desks. The school, as a confined space, functions like a micro-society – a complex stage where emotionally unstable and immature individuals are entangled. As the contents of Tsubaki’s letters begin to reveal hidden truths and personal secrets, the facade of harmonious relationships begins to crack. With each letter unveiled, the delicate balance of the class shatters like ripples spreading from a single stone cast into still water. (Martin LEE)

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Teaching Practice: Idiot Girls and School Ghost 2 by Kim Min-ha – Korea | 2025 – 94 minutes | World Premiere
Section: Korean Fantastic: Features

This film is the latest work and sequel by the director who won two awards last year, including Best Director for Korean Fantastic at BIFAN 2024 with Idiot Girls and School Ghost: School Anniversary. While the previous film was a chaotic comic horror about four girls aiming for a perfect score on the college entrance exam, this installment takes a step further with a lively comedy about a student teacher and three girls. The director’s signature blend of comic horror is as sharp as ever, now featuring a teacher as the protagonist and delivering a powerful message about teacher authority. The passionate performance by Han Seon-hwa as the student teacher, combined with the strong personalities of the three students, brings vibrant energy to the film. (Martin LEE)

The Ugly Stepsister by Emilie Blichfeldt – Norway, Sweden, Poland, Denmark | 2025 – 110 minutes | Asian Premiere
Section: Bucheon Choice: Features

Cinderella, the most popular character in the marrying-up narrative, has captured the hearts of girls around the world through countless versions of her tale. Blessed with natural beauty and a kind heart, Cinderella wins the prince’s love, while her stepmother and stepsisters are portrayed merely as ugly and cunning villains. Emilie Blichfeldt, who rose to instant fame in the genre film world with her debut The Ugly Stepsister, opens her film with an unforgettable image from the original Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale—the stepsister cutting off her toes to fit into the glass slipper. (Jin PARK)

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The Yeast by Jang Dongyoon – Korea | 2024 – 83 minutes | World Premiere
Section: Merry-Go-Round

Eighteen-year-old Da-seul was spending an ordinary life helping her father run a traditional makgeolli (rice wine) brewery. However, because the origin of the ‘nuruk’ (the yeast) that determines the taste of the makgeolli was unknown, their makgeolli could not be officially distributed, and they ended up secretly selling it only to the local villagers. Her older brother, Da-hyeon, who wanted to modernize the brewery, secretly threw away the old nuruk and replaced it with a commercially available one without telling their father or Da-seul. He thought no one would notice—but from that day on, Da-seul fell ill as if possessed, saying “the nuruk is gone.” At first, Da-hyeon found it absurd, but as Da-seul’s condition worsened, he began to take it seriously. He eventually discovers traces of the nuruk in an unexpected place, and through a chaotic episode involving homeless people, Da-seul and Da-hyeon come to face a truth they had long turned away from. The nuruk that Da-seul was obsessed with was not just the secret to flavor, but a fixation on the past and an intangible burden held by the family. Only by fully accepting the past and letting go of that obsession can a new fermentation truly begin. This leaves a lingering message. (Kani KIM)

Trapped by Sagara – China | 2025 – 131 minutes | Korean Premiere
Section: Metal Noir

Trapped marks the directorial debut of Sagara (Zhang Qi), a seasoned editor in Chinese commercial cinema. This taut thriller combines refined genre conventions with a restrained visual style to create a film of remarkable density. Set in a ghost town near China’s northwestern border – once prosperous from mining, now guarded by just three police officers – the film begins as a group of strangers arrive, triggering a chain of unsettling events. Blending the isolation of classic westerns with the tension of modern psychological drama, the genre functions not merely as a framework but as a mechanism for exploring power, trust, and survival. Sagara minimizes exposition and leans into uncertainty, heightening emotional suspense throughout. Drawing on his extensive editing background, the director demonstrates a mastery of form and psychological storytelling, standing out in the landscape of Chinese genre films, which has seen rapid expansion in recent years. (KIM Youngwoo)

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For more information, please visit: https://www.bifan.kr/eng/