Yeon Sang-ho's new work 'Paradise Lost,' reunion with son realized through AI after 9 years... Kim Hyun-joo's emotional turmoil

Director Yeon Sang-ho addresses humanity in the age of artificial intelligence (AI) through a mystery thriller in his new work, ″Paradise Lost.″ The film highlights the unbridgeable gap that ultimately remains between reality and illusion. The movie was first unveiled domestically at the 31st Busan International Film Festival Gala Presentation. ″Paradise Lost″ tells the story of Soyoung (Kim Hyun-joo), a mother who lost her son and lives relying on an AI version of him, and her reunion with her son Sunwoo (Bae Hyun-sung) after nine years. Although Soyoung meets her son again, she feels unfamiliarity and anxiety rather than joy. This is because the AI is more consistent than the real person, the film explains. At a press conference held on the 10th at the Busan Cinema Center, director Yeon Sang-ho explained, ″Continuity is necessary to recognize a person as the same individual.″ The AI was designed to meet this condition, but after nine years, the connection in the returned son is missing, causing Soyoung to doubt whether the person in front of her is truly Sunwoo. Director Yeon emphasized human traits such as imperfection, incomprehensibility, and isolation as the opposite of AI. The starting point of this perspective was John Milton’s epic poem ″Paradise Lost.″ Yeon said, ″I thought that humanity gaining its identity as human was the event of eating the fruit of good and evil and being expelled from paradise.″ The original story idea came from a three-page episode written by the director’s mother. It was about a mother who could not stop her son from doing bad things but could never stop loving him. Based on this, Yeon wrote a screenplay titled ″Punk″ in 2020. Later, the setting was moved to a fictional village on the border between Canada and the United States, resulting in ″Black Inferno,″ a novel by writer Oh Sung-eun. In the third version, ″Paradise Lost,″ the story was shifted to the AI era. Filming was completed in 14 sessions. Compared to the usual 50 or more sessions for feature films, this was a short period. Kim Hyun-joo said, ″It was actually good because I could act with more immersion,″ adding, ″I tried to express Soyoung herself rather than just acting. Since filming continued every day, I think that presence was conveyed as it was.″ ″Paradise Lost″ will be released on the 21st.