Oasis

Oasis (오아시스, 2002) is a South Korean drama by director Lee Chang-dong that you can watch online on iFILM. Jong-du walks out of prison with no money and no direction, then makes his way to the apartment of a family whose relative he accidentally killed. There he meets Gong-ju, a young woman with cerebral palsy whom her own family essentially keeps out of sight.

What happens between them is not a redemption arc and not a love story the genre recognises. Sol Kyung-gu plays Jong-du with an unsettling mix of clumsiness and intensity; Moon So-ri's performance as Gong-ju picked up the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at Venice in 2002, and it is immediately clear why. Lee Chang-dong keeps the camera close and the sentimentality out, which makes the film uncomfortable in exactly the right way.

The film also took home the Silver Lion for Best Direction at the same festival. If your Korean cinema experience is mostly thrillers, Oasis will read as something different — quieter, harder to shake, and more precise about what exclusion looks like in ordinary life. Stream Oasis online on iFILM.