Director Lee Chang-dong brought his first feature in eight years, Possible Love, to the 64th New York Film Festival on Sunday for its U.S. premiere.
Lee was joined on the red carpet at Alice Tully Hall by stars Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung and Cho Yeo-jeong ahead of the Sept. 27 screening. The film arrives in New York fresh off winning the Silver Lion at the 2026 Venice Film Festival, and it has been selected as South Korea’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 2027 Academy Awards.
On the red carpet, The Knockturnal spoke with Lee and the cast about their time on set and how they found their way into their roles. Sul described his process simply, saying, “I try to empty myself to get into character.” Jeon said she works to relate to Mi-ok’s emotions, including the anxiety that runs beneath the surface.
Possible Love Q&A at NYFF, Photo Credits: NYFF
Possible Love follows two married couples from opposite ends of South Korea’s economic ladder. Jeon and Sul play Mi-ok and Ho-seok, a working-class pair still reeling after Ho-seok loses his factory job. Cho and Zo play Ye-ji and Sang-woo, a documentary filmmaker and her businessman husband. When Ye-ji sets out to make a film about layoffs, she turns her camera on Mi-ok and Ho-seok.
What makes the film so gripping is how patiently Lee lets its weight arrive. The labor strike that cost Ho-seok his job is never laid out all at once. Its gravity surfaces in pieces, each revelation heavier than the last.
Lee mirrors that slow unveiling on the other side of the lens. The full extent of the filmmakers’ wealth comes into view gradually rather than announcing itself, and the gap between the two households widens with every scene.
Possible Love Cast at NYFF, Photo Credits: NYFF
At the center is Jeon’s Mi-ok, for whom everything carries an idealistic, almost childlike glow. That wide-eyed outlook is the film’s most tender element and, as the documentary digs deeper, one of its most unsettling. When the husbands call her a great method actor, the remark lands with more weight than either man seems to intend. Lee also plays with the act of watching itself. The film moves between several kinds of footage, including grainy security camera recordings, blurring the line between what is staged for Ye-ji’s documentary and what is simply lived. Running 164 minutes, Possible Love opens in theaters Oct. 23 before streaming on Netflix Nov. 6. Netflix released the first trailer ahead of the film’s festival run.
Check out the trailer for “Possible Love” below.
