Jae Shik (Jin Goo) is an agent for a group of young female artists who perform at birthday parties, sporting events, that kind of thing. As the movie opens, he’s in the car with his ensemble, waiting for one woman who’s late. But she’s got a good reason. She’s dead.
At the morgue, Jae Shik learns there’s nothing suspicious. She just fell. He thoughtlessly claims to be her guardian, so the cops give him her belongings. Since she owes him money, he decides to have a look around her apartment. Which turns out to be messy and smelly. There’s no money. But there’s something he didn’t expect: the woman’s daughter, Eun Hye (Jung Seo-yeon).
Eun Hye pays him no mind. She moves slowly around the apartment, grabbing a pastry and retreating to a confined space under a table. She ignores Jae Shik’s questions. He realizes she is blind. And then he realizes … she’s also deaf.
Normal people would call the police and surrender the little girl. But Jae Shik needs money badly to pay off a debt to some gangsters. When he learns there’s a large deposit to be returned on the apartment in a month, he does what any loser who is “intelligence challenged” would do: he’ll pretend to be the deceased woman’s common-law husband and play father to Eun Hye for a month until he can collect.
When Jae Shik tries to find professional help, he learns specialized schools exist for the blind and for the deaf, but not for both. So he tries to teach Eun Hye some basic communication skills himself, first out of necessity, then out of compassion. In the coming weeks, Jae Shik’s plans meet roadblock after roadblock. And, as the gangsters close in and his money and options dwindle, he comes face to face with his own irresponsibility and immaturity.
See It
You know where these “loser tries to take care of cute orphan kid” tales of redemption go. It’s either the happy ending where everything works out and they’re together, or it’s the teary conclusion as they’re forced to part ways.
Let’s say this: You finally come to care a bit about what happens to Jae Shik and a lot about what happens to Eun Hye. So it’s definitely worth hanging in to find out where, between those two poles, the story of these two unfortunate souls finally lands.
Jin Goo effectively inhabits the initial role of the guy who’s too unmotivated and a just tad too dense to plot the honest and mature path through the situation he finds himself in. He’s entirely believable in his journey as he grows up and realizes what he must do.
And oh … little Jung Seo-yeon. Now you’re going to say that this bright-eyed little moppet doesn’t deliver a thoroughly realistic portrayal of a blind and deaf child. But she would have been about six or seven during filming. Her performance is entirely remarkable and she sells it to you better than many adult actors tasked with the same daunting role. She rises to the challenge and throws herself into the emotional moments with abandon. It’s worth watching for her alone.
The story just ends rather than concludes. No easy answers. No certain future. But it is entirely worth watching to see that final frame.