The film follows the life of a North Korean defector who gives birth to a son at a young age and abandons her husband and child for a better life abroad. The hidden past is revealed after fourteen years when the grown-up son visits her.
Beautiful Days is director Jéro Yun's debut feature film and lead actress Lee Na-young's first film in 5 years.[8]
The film began production on October 31, 2017. Filming wrapped on November 26, 2017.[8]
Reception
In Variety, Peter Debruge says, "Lee Na-young impresses as a North Korean woman tracked down by her long-since-abandoned son".[9] Reviewing it for Screendaily, Wendy Ide noted the film as being structurally a little over-complicated, but still is an impressive drama which feels convincingly rooted in real lives and stories.[10]
Clarence Tsui of The Hollywood Reporter writes, "Beautiful Days certainly lives up to its title with its mesmerizing imagery and very polished production values. But it is weighed down by a clichéd narrative and simplistic moral binaries".[11]
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