Ha Jung-woo’s fourth feature as both director and lead actor… starring Gong Hyo-jin, Lee Ha-nee, and Kim Dong-wook

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In a high-rise apartment, fabric sofas, green plants, and stylish, expensive-looking tableware breathe life into the space.

In stark contrast to the colorful interior, the relationship of the young couple living here has grown cold.

Once drawn to each other’s sense of humor and eventually married, they now punctuate every conversation with, “That’s not funny,” and have been sleeping in separate rooms for quite some time.

The chic interior was actually created by Jeong-ah (played by Gong Hyo-jin), an art instructor who tried to overcome the couple’s stagnation by filling the home entirely with her own tastes. Hyun-soo (Kim Dong-wook), a film director currently going through a slump, is the avoidant type—responding to uncomfortable comments with jokes or retreating to his room and shutting the door.

A major shift in their lives begins when they invite the upstairs couple for dinner as a gesture of thanks for patiently enduring the noise caused by their interior renovations.

The upstairs couple—Mr. Kim (Ha Jung-woo) and Soo-kyung (Lee Ha-nee)—are the ones whose everyday sounds through the walls suggest a passionate relationship. To Jeong-ah, they evoke envy; to Hyun-soo, annoyance.

‘The People Upstairs’, Ha Jung-woo’s fourth directorial work, is a comedy about this upstairs couple seducing and unraveling the downstairs couple with their unpredictable boldness and unconventional openness. It is based on the Spanish film ‘Sentimental’.

The film premiered domestically at the 30th Busan International Film Festival and was invited to the 10th London East Asia Film Festival (LEAFF), reaching European audiences as well.

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The two couples’ conversations, like dishes with diverse textures and flavors, are filled with humor or meaning in every topic, tone, and context—eliciting constant laughter.

When Hyun-soo tells polite little lies out of courtesy, Mr. Kim bluntly points out, “You’re embarrassed right now, aren’t you? Because you lied,” pushing Hyun-soo past his limit.

As they become more honest about their feelings and finally voice the things they had suppressed due to social formality or maintaining an image, their conversations grow increasingly absurd.

Their discussions center on daring proposals regarding sexual preferences and marital intimacy.

‘The People Upstairs’ is the only one of Ha Jung-woo’s four directorial works to receive an adults-only rating. His previous films—Lobby (2025) and Rollercoaster (2013)—were rated 15+, while Chronicle of a Blood Merchant (2015) was rated 12+.

The chemistry of Ha Jung-woo, Gong Hyo-jin, Lee Ha-nee, and Kim Dong-wook—their impeccable timing and everyday naturalism—makes the couples feel extraordinarily ordinary, no matter how outrageous their conversations become.

Opens December 3. 107 minutes. Adults only.

[Provided by By4M Studio. Redistribution and database storage prohibited.]

By Jung Rae-won