Moon-young works as a railroad conductor in Seoul. The accidents and their aftereffects that she witnesses as a conductor are hard to endure, and she doesn’t get along with people. One day, she receives a call from a friend and decides to visit her hometown, which she has been trying to forget. Sang-woo works as a teacher at an elementary school. He follows the traces of Moon-young who left for her hometown. There is a quiet tension that lingers throughout the film. The tw...more

Moon-young works as a railroad conductor in Seoul. The accidents and their aftereffects that she witnesses as a conductor are hard to endure, and she doesn’t get along with people. One day, she receives a call from a friend and decides to visit her hometown, which she has been trying to forget. Sang-woo works as a teacher at an elementary school. He follows the traces of Moon-young who left for her hometown. There is a quiet tension that lingers throughout the film. The two stories of Moon-Young’s and Sang-woo’s journeys are two similar forms. Moreover, within this symmetrical structure, fascinating cracks of memory and illusion permeate asymmetrically, sometimes intensely, sometimes subtly, drawing us into the realm of curiosity. The Waves of Winter is a meticulous psychological drama that delves deeply into the characters’ inner selves and an illusory road movie that makes us newly aware of time and ourselves. (JUNG Hanseok)less