Sebastián Nadilo shares his comments on the Korean short film “Freckles” by Kim Jihee.

Freckles (주근깨) by Kim Jihee – Korea | 2019 – 27 minutes

Young-shin is locked up in a fat camp against her own will. After kissing her roommate, the boring days at the camp turns into a small turmoil.

Trailer (No English Subtitles):

Review :
I discovered Freckles while covering the Jeonju International Film Festival (Korea) back in May. Since then the short film was screened around Asia and won the Best Director Award at the 21st Seoul International Women’s Film Festival (Korea).

Freckles tells the story of Young-shin, a young woman who is locked in a fat camp against her own will. With her is her friend, Joo-hee, who unlike Young-shin, managed to slim down during the camp. The director waste no time and in the first 5 minute we have a full presentation of the characters, their motivations and we also get a glimpse at the characters’ family background. Young-shin is unhappy and unmotivated to be at the camp and just want to escape. On the other hand, Joo-hee appears to be motivated and is eager to end the summer camp, because she will get a refund and plans to use that money to start her YouTube-influencer career.

Everything seems to be as usual but one night the girls decide to ransack the camp’s fridge to get some beer. Both get drunk and they kiss each other. This “incident” changes the dynamic between them as Young-shin discovers she has strong feels towards her friend. She now sees a purpose to stay at the camp, but this doesn’t last long as she discovers her friend is flirting with a camp coordinator. This makes our protagonist jealous and she discovers that they are more than just flirting. This breaking point shift the dynamic once again and leave Young-shin heartbroken.

Young-shin decides to confront the coordinator but she discovers that he was fired. Someone had reported on them but nobody knows who. She then tries to comfort her friend, but she is shocked by her reply. Joo-hee explains that she is more concerned about not getting the refund she worked so hard. Young-shin learns that she is not wanted and finally gain some courage to escape the camp.

Freckles is a short film that talks about friendship, love and discovering who we are and what we want. It is impressive how the director managed to get so much from a 25-minute film. The plot is interesting, and it’s presented in a good way, the characters have background making them more convincing, the actors are good, and the music managed to immerse the viewer in the story.

Once again, I would like to thank the director and the distributor for letting me see this gem. Thanks for your time and support. Until next time.

Sebastián Nadilo