Cobweb (2023 South Korean film)

Cobweb is a 2023 South Korean period black comedy-drama film directed by Kim Jee-woon starring Song Kang-ho, Im Soo-jung, Oh Jung-se, Jeon Yeo-been, and Krystal Jung. It premiered in the non-competitive section at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The film was released theatrically on September 27, 2023, coinciding with Korean Chuseok holidays.

Premise
In early 1970s Seoul, a film director Kim Ki-yeol is obsessed with the fact that the ending of his already wrapped film Cobweb would be better if remade.

Two series of sequences alternate: scenes in colour depicting the events that happen while the crew is filming under constraints of time and censorship, with somehow reluctant actors, who have been asked to come back in emergency to the film studio for two days; and scenes in black-and-white, that are the results of these studio shooting scenes.

Main

 * Song Kang-ho as Kim Ki-yeol
 * A movie director who is obsessed with the desire to make Cobweb into a masterpiece.


 * Im Soo-jung as Lee Min-ja
 * A veteran actress who plays Kang Ho-se's wife in the movie Cobweb.


 * Oh Jung-se as Kang Ho-se
 * Popular playboy actor who is the male protagonist of Cobweb.


 * Jeon Yeo-been as Shin Mi-do
 * Person in charge of finance of Shin Sung Film, which produces the movie Cobweb.


 * Krystal Jung as Han Yu-rim
 * A new actress who is rapidly growing in popularity in Cobweb.

Supporting

 * Jang Young-nam as Chairman Baek
 * A producer of the movie Cobweb.


 * Jung In-ki as Hunter
 * A long time colleague of Kim Ki-yeol.


 * Jang Nam-yeol as Park Joo-sa
 * A literary scholar who visits the filming site of the movie Cobweb.


 * Park Jung-soo as Mrs. Oh
 * Kim Ki-yeol's regular actress who says that she will appear only for money.


 * Shin Sung-pil as Mr. Baek
 * The producer of the movie Cobweb


 * Kim Min-jae as Chief Kim
 * Kim Dong-young as an assistant director who worked with Kim Ki-yeol for a long time
 * Kim Joong-hee as Detective Gu

Special appearance

 * Jung Woo-sung as Director Shin / Shin Sang-ho
 * Film director who died in an unexpected accident.

Production
Principal photography began on March 8, 2022 and concluded on June 6, 2022.

Release
Cobweb has been invited to the out of competition section of the 76th Cannes International Film Festival which premiered worldwide on May 25, 2023. The film was invited to the competition section of the 70th Sydney Film Festival. It will also screen in the Noves Visions section at the 56th Sitges Film Festival. The film has had a limited release in Australia on October 4 through Umbrella Entertainment and Dendy Cinemas. It was released in France on November 8, 2023.

Box office
As of October 14, 2023, the film has grossed US$2,174,044 at the local box office and accumulated 306,700 admissions from 209 screens.

Critical response
Variety called the film a "frantic, flimsy moviemaking meta-farce".