Aviary

Dong (Liar, Dreamer, Thief) deftly blends Korean folklore, speculative suspense, and body horror into a mesmerizing gothic fairy tale for this modern age of monsters. Nineteen-year-old Hee-Jin is undocumented and living in fear of being deported to North Korea. When she finds the disfigured corpse of her younger sister, Hee-Young, on her doorstep, Hee-Jin sees an opportunity for escape. In Hee-Young’s pocket is a plane ticket and a U.S. passport. Assuming her sister’s identity, Hee-Jin travels from Seoul to the U.S. to take Hee-Young’s place in an exclusive art residency. To uncover the cause of her sister’s death, Hee-Jin must survive the strange program, its ultra-wealthy patrons, and the violent secrets haunting the house. Wrapped within this tantalizing and blood-curdling mystery is a sharp critique of systemic injustices including immigration, imperialism, fetishization, and women’s agency. Psychedelic sequences lend a surreal, dreamy effect to the story, beneath which lurk deeper indictments of exploitation, money, control, and power.