Hopeless (2023)

A town with no future and no hope.

Seventeen-year-old Yeon Gyu was born in this place and has never been anywhere else. While enduring the repeated violence inflicted by his stepfather, he saves up money in the lone hope of moving to the Netherlands with his mother. Chi Geon, born and raised in this town, is now a mid-level boss in a criminal organization. Having learned early in life that this world is hell, he gets by in his own way.

One day Yeon Gyu gets into a fight to protect his stepsister Ha Yan. Unable to raise the settlement money, Yeon Gyu is helped by Chi Geon, and in that way Yeon Gyu comes to start a new life as a member of Chi Geon’s gang. Although scared and awkward, Yeon Gyu gradually adjusts with the help of Chi Ggeon who is like an older brother to him. Having earned Chi Geon’s trust while fighting to survive in the gang, Yeon Gyu begins to fall into more and more dangerous circumstances.

In order to escape from hell, they become a part of it.

(Source: International Festival de Cannes press kit)