Sea Fog

Suspense takes to the high seas in this strong South Korean effort lightly based on true events that took place southwest of Yeosu in October 2001. Captain Kang Chul-joo (Kim Yoon-seok) is down on his luck in more ways than one: his decrepit trawler is one voyage away from combusting, the meager catches he brings in are hardly enough to keep him and his crew financially afloat, and his own wife openly has sex with other men to greet him on his return to shore. When a sketchy contact taps Kang to smuggle a horde of Korean immigrants from China back into the country, the captain only accepts the offer in order to maintain his beloved ship. The narrative shifts its focus when young, fresh-faced engineer Dong-sik (Park Yu-chun) falls for female immigrant Hong-mae (Han Ye-ri) and attempts to keep her out of harm's way by hiding her in the engine room as tensions between the other immigrants and the crew increase. Matters become much worse when shipboard tragedy pushes the already-dogmatic captain past the breaking point, and soon the other members of the Junjin follow suit as fear, mania, guilt, and sexual repression overcome them all as surely as the inescapable ocean fog. Director Shim Sung-bo keeps his cinematic vessel moving at a steady clip in this riveting tale. Recommended. (J. Cruz)