Secret Sunshine

Lee Chang-dong’s stunning saga of grief and catharsis is built around a fearless central performance from Jeon Do-yeon (Best Actress, Cannes Film Festival)—one of the most wrenching and mesmerizing tour de forces since Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence. She plays socially awkward piano teacher who, with her young son, relocates from Seoul to her late husband’s hometown of Milyang for a fresh start. But another unthinkable tragedy soon sends her into an emotional tailspin and a desperate quest for reconciliation. While it plumbs universal questions of faith and forgiveness, Secret Sunshine is never less than personal in its portrait of a woman picking up the pieces of her life.