Possible Love is a 2026 South Korean drama film, directed by Lee Chang-dong, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Oh Jung-mi. The film had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in September (where it won the Grand Jury Prize and the FIPRESCI Prize) and went on general release in the UK last Friday, 23 October. It will be streamed world-wide by Netflix from 6 November.

SP Heavy Industries, where respected welder Ho-seok (Sul Kyung-gu) works, announces massive layoffs. The metalworkers’ union rejects the cuts and occupies the factory roofs, but the strike is broken brutally by police commandos. Ho-seok is badly beaten in the raid, then summarily fired.

The film begins two years later, where Ho-seok, along with his wife Mi-ok (Jeon Do-yeon), attend the funeral of one of his old SP co-workers who has committed suicide. Lacking employment worthy of his skills, he has become very bitter and depressed, finding solace only in drink. Mi-ok berates Ho-seok over his drinking. Ye-ji (Cho Yeo-jeong), who is making a documentary film about SP, notices their argument and trains her camera on them. Ho-seok shouts at her and, embarrassed, Mi-ok steps outside and accidentally drops her loose wedding ring; Sang-woo (Zo In-sung), who happens to be Ye-ji’s husband, helps her find it. Observing the tensions between Ho-seok and Mi-ok, Ye-ji decides to make them the primary subjects of her documentary.

At the beginning of the film there is a nod to Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Dekalog 10, which covers the Tenth Commandment: Though Shalt Not Covet. Kieślowski gave us a black comedy about two estranged brothers who inherit a valuable stamp collection from their father, defining covetousness as avarice; Chang-Dong gives us a considerably deeper, multi-layered and, dare I say, more intelligent investigation into the nature of hidden desires. Rather than focus purely on avarice, he brings in lust and envy too, for the Tenth Commandment has more than its fair share of associated deadly sins.

Chang-dong’s film works on a socio-economic level, peering closely into the well-to-do, artsy couple as they inveigle their way into the lives of blue-collar Ho-soek and Mi-ok. When Sang-woo accuses his wife of method-acting the relationship, she responds, ‘I am trying to love these people’; hence, perhaps, the film’s title. But is there something she is not admitting, even to her husband? As we watch the tensions between the two couples play out, both in their own home environments and on an edgy coastal weekend in the affluent couple’s luxury holiday home, it becomes apparent that the envy is not just one-way: everyone wants something that one or more of the others possesses.

I enjoyed this film very much. The acting was strong and the relationships worked well, particularly between filmmaker Ye-ji and her ‘spiritual sister’ Mi-ok; and when Ho-soek finally tells his story, it is explosive. At 164 minutes, it did feel a little long, particularly during the first half, however as the story progressed it became compulsive viewing and the last hour or so was truly excellent.

Possible Love may not be for everyone, however I for one will be watching it again the moment it appears on Netflix next week. Few will get the opportunity to see it on the big screen, or so my listings suggest, but it is certainly worth your time when you are able to watch it at home.