Why ‘막걸리가 알려줄거야’ is the Top Korean Film of 2024: Insights and Reviews

'Makgeolli Will Tell You,' a film released two years ago, is set to arrive on Netflix next month.

'Makgeolli Will Tell You' is a black comedy that skewers South Korea's private education industry while following a young girl trying to survive inside it with a sharply humorous, offbeat voice. The film runs 92 minutes and is rated for all ages.

Eleven-year-old Dongchun's days are packed: Korean, math and English as standard, plus creative science, coding, art, taekwondo—and even Persian. The nonstop schedule leaves her barely any time to breathe.

Then one day a chance discovery—a bottle of makgeolli—upends her routine. The drink emits Morse-like signals that translate into messages in Persian. Through a string of increasingly absurd events, Dongchun begins to converse with the makgeolli and, in doing so, finds the answers she needs.

The film relies on vivid imagination and sharp comic timing, but its themes run deep. It confronts the pressures and pain young people endure in an achievement-obsessed, hypercompetitive society while offering consolation and a sense of liberation through the unlikely symbol of makgeolli. The seamless blend of laughs, emotional payoff and lingering bittersweet notes is the film's chief appeal.

Director Kim Damin helmed the project. The film built its reputation on the festival circuit before its theatrical release, screening at the 2023 Busan International Film Festival. Invited to BIFF's Korean Cinema Today section at the 28th festival, it won the Aurora Media Award, and it also screened at the 49th Seoul Independent Film Festival.

The film opened on February 28, 2024, and won praise from both audiences and critics. Film critic Lee Dong-jin placed it fourth on his Top 10 Korean Films of 2024 list (1. The Heir, 2. Escape, 3. Suyu Stream).

Lee described the film as \"an arresting work whose singular story feels entirely original,\" praising its sustained narrative and thematic focus for leaving a powerful aftertaste.

The leads include Park Na-eun as Dongchun, Park Hyo-joo as Dongchun's mother Hyejin, and Kim Hee-won as Youngjin. Kim Hee-won said he accepted the role right after reading the script, calling it \"an excellent screenplay that made me reflect on an education culture that stifles children's imagination and creativity—and on the cowardice of older generations who formed their values within that system.\"

After making her feature debut with 'Makgeolli Will Tell You,' Kim Damin broadened her profile by writing the screenplay for the Netflix series \"Sarinja Onangam\" (roughly translated as \"A Killer's Dilemma\"). She is currently directing the Netflix series \"Honey Gig,\" slated for a fourth-quarter release.

'Makgeolli Will Tell You' will be available on Netflix on the 15th of next month.