FAQ

The viewer’s introduction to Kim Dong-choon (Park Na-eun is her asking why her father doesn’t have any hair. It’s a leftfield question that says a lot about the character of the girl, and Kim da-Min film.

Dong-choon at school appears to have a low tolerance for fools, exasperating her partner, and her school mates when the go off on a trip, where she does her own thing. Her weakness is public speaking which she bottles at school despite the embarrassing encouragement of her father.

A clever child with a vivid imagination, she takes it in her stride when two giant furry creatures appear to her from a fermenting bottle of rice wine. As it ferments, she has to decant the liquid into a large container that she keeps in her bedroom. The bubbling wine also communicates through morse code and Farsi giving her challenges that she gamely takes on.

All this while her mother Hye-jon (Park Hyo-joo) is keeping her busy with endless extra school courses that keep the 11-year-old busy to all hours.

Kim Da-min’s film is a charming fantasy about a little girl’s vivid imagination that gets her into difficult positions with everyone and which gets progressively weirder. Park Na-eun is excellent taking in the talking fermenting wine in her stride, as she deal with the everyday events of school and the pressures from her eager mother.

There is a darker satirical thread running through FAQ about the huge pressure being put upon South Korea’s school age children to learn and progress. It seems that the bitter price is burn out and depressed children and a persistent sense of inadequacy. For example, Dong-choon is considered short for her age and is put on a course of growth drugs.

It’s a testament to Da-min’s skill as a filmmaker that neither overwhelm the other though the fantasy element towards the end and at the end does take the lead, in a way.

FAQ was screened as part of the London Korean Film Festival 2024