TO THE LIGHTS | Omeleto Drama

A young girl tries to escape North Korea.
TO THE LIGHTS is used with permission from Emily Kim. Learn more at / tothelightsfilm .
Soon-Hee is a precocious twelve-year-old girl living in poverty with her loving father. They live on the border of North Korea and China, whose lights she can see across the Yalu River. She has a deep bond with her father, but she dreams of a brighter future, one where she can enjoy music and there is more than enough to eat.
Soon-Hee's best friend recently escaped to China just across the river, and he talks with Soon-Hee through an illegal army radio, telling her all about his new life. When Soon-Hee gets a chance to escape her life in North Korea and join her best friend, she must come to grips with leaving everything behind -- including her patriotic father, whose loyalty to his nation seems unshakable.
Directed and written by Emily Kim, this moving, powerful short drama tracks the moments leading up to a young girl's momentous decision to change her life, one that will drastically alter her future but also requires her to leave everything and everyone she knows behind. Told in a naturalistic yet stately visual style, the beautifully crafted storytelling takes time to build up its young protagonist's world, detailing the travails of poverty and starvation as well as the considerable love and affection between her and her father, played by actor Jongman Kim with great exuberance and warmth. The stakes for Soon-Hee clear, but that clarity also makes viewers realize just what a difficult and dangerous decision she would make in trying to escape North Korea.
Paced evenly, the narrative sticks closely to Soon-Hee's perspective, and at first, the film has the feel of an intimate family drama, playing out a series of scenes in Soon-Hee's home. The home is full of love, but it is also sparsely furnished, there is little to eat and the presence of North Korean propaganda is constant, which her father believes in.
The film deviates from the girl's perspective, however, when it shows a brutal police interrogation, offering an ominous perspective of the larger world that Soon-Hee has been born in and just what danger she faces if caught. As Soon-Hee, young actor Alyssa Kim captures her character's innate brightness and curiosity about the world at large, as well as a growing awareness that her corner of it is not what it seems.
Faced with a rare opportunity for escape, Soon-Hee's biggest obstacle to changing her life is her most palpable source of comfort and support. To move forward, she must leave her father behind. It's a wrenching choice, and her reckoning with it makes for a heartbreaking resonance at the end of TO THE LIGHTS. It gets to the heart of the love between parents and children and offers a painful poignancy to the parental maxim of wanting the best for their children -- even if it means losing them in the process.

[@ZolaClyde]

Wonderful! I love it. Alyssa Kim plays Sun-Hee so well, kudos to the actor who played her father too. Emily Kim wrote one hell of short film. Beautifully executed. Best that I’ve seen on Omleto in a while. More films by Emily Kim please.
I could easily watch a long version following Sun-Hee’s journey from North Korea to …wherever… she doesn’t even know beyond meeting up with her friend across the border. But that’s a different movie or series. :)

[@clydeedmond-v5o]

Great story with relatable characters and great acting. Father shows his resistance to becoming a monster though he is part of a monstrous machine. Very touching movie!!!

[@kurtweiand7086]

Wow so touching, this drama is so true to life! Come quickly Lord Jesus!

[@changes649]

Everyone has a story to tell!

[@mortex9044]

Wouuuuuu

[@clasencoach]

Once again no warning even though there is rough violence in the film.