# Lee Chang-dong, Jeon Do-yeon and Sul Kyung-gu on Class, Desire and Reunion in Venice Competition Drama ‘Possible Love’

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/lee-chang-dong-jeon-do-yeon-and-sul-kyung-gu-on-class-desire-and-reunion-in-venice-competition-drama-possible-love/
- Published: 2026-09-06T18:37:05+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-07T00:43:41+00:00
- Original publisher: Variety
- Original article: https://variety.com/2026/film/festivals/lee-chang-dong-jeon-do-yeon-sul-kyung-possible-love-1236852451/
- Topics: Americas, Art, Asia, Culture, Entertainment, Film, Music, World

## Key points

- Lee Chang-dong's "Possible Love" premieres in Venice competition, his first film since "Burning"
- Script began after a 2009 Korean strike, shelved nearly 20 years before completion
- Story pairs a laid-off worker's family with a wealthy filmmaker couple

## Summary

Lee Chang-dong's "Possible Love", his first feature since 2018's "Burning", has premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival, with the director and stars Jeon Do-yeon and Sul Kyung-gu discussing its long journey to the screen. Lee revealed the project began as a treatment written soon after a 2009 strike at a major Korean company, which followed mass layoffs and ended in a 70-day standoff and a violent crackdown, but he shelved it for nearly two decades after struggling to justify turning real workers' suffering into fiction. The film only came together once co-writer Oh Jung-mi suggested pairing that story with one about a documentary filmmaker, giving Lee a more personal route into the material and a way to probe whether storytellers are entitled to use other people's lives for their own ends.

The finished film follows Mi-ok (Jeon Do-yeon), a mask-factory worker coping with the fallout of her husband Ho-seok's (Sul Kyung-gu) layoff, whose life becomes entangled with a wealthy filmmaker, Ye-ji (Cho Yeo-jeong), and her husband Sang-woo (Zo In-sung) after a funeral draws the couples together. As Mi-ok agrees to be filmed for Ye-ji's documentary, she forms a bond with her while being drawn towards the enigmatic Sang-woo, exposing the gulf in wealth and detachment between the two households and destabilising both marriages. Lee framed the story around the biblical injunction against coveting and questioned whether resisting desire is even possible under modern capitalism, while Jeon Do-yeon, reuniting with the director nearly 20 years after "Secret Sunshine", said she connected with Mi-ok through shared traits rather than circumstance; Zo and Cho are collaborating with Lee for the first time.

## Coverage

- [Variety: Lee Chang-dong, Jeon Do-yeon and Sul Kyung-gu on Class, Desire and Reunion in Venice Competition Drama ‘Possible Love’](https://variety.com/2026/film/festivals/lee-chang-dong-jeon-do-yeon-sul-kyung-possible-love-1236852451/)
- [Variety: ‘Possible Love’ Review: Korean Master Lee Chang-dong Returns With a Beautifully Mature, Quietly Colossal Relationship Drama](https://variety.com/2026/film/reviews/possible-love-review-1236846877/)
- [The Hollywood Reporter: ‘Possible Love’ Review: Korean Master Lee Chang-dong’s Transfixing Meditation on Economic and Emotional Unease Is a Quiet Powerhouse](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/possible-love-review-lee-chang-dong-netflix-1236691731/)
- [Deadline: ‘Possible Love’: What The Critics Are Saying About Lee Chang-dong’s Korean Drama — Venice](https://deadline.com/2026/09/possible-love-reviews-reaction-what-the-critics-are-saying-1237069452/)
- [Deadline: ‘Possible Love’ Review: Lee Chang -dong’s South Korean International Oscar Entry Is Powerful Story Of Class And Desire – Venice Film Festival](https://deadline.com/2026/09/possible-love-review-lee-chang-dongs-south-korean-oscar-pick-1237063045/)
- [Variety: ‘Possible Love’ Cast Sobs as Lee Chang-dong’s Epic Embraced at Venice With 6-Minute Standing Ovation](https://variety.com/2026/film/festivals/possible-love-lee-chang-dong-venice-premiere-1236838135/)
- [The Hollywood Reporter: Lee Chang-dong’s ‘Possible Love’ Emerges as Venice Film Festival Sensation](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/lee-chang-dong-possible-love-acclaim-venice-1236692360/)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.