We’re back with a new film review and this time you better strap in for one heartbreaking story of ‘2037’.
The movie came out in 2022 and was directed by Mo Hong-jin and co-written by Mo and Yoo Da-young.
Plot
‘2037’ refers to prisoner 2037, or Jung Yoon-Young. Her character is portrayed by Hong Ye-Ji, this is her debut role. In the film she plays a girl who is raped by her mom’s boss. When he threatens to also rape her mother, she kills him.
Her mother is played by Kim Ji-Young. She’s deaf and has asthma. Yoon-Young has been working to help support their little family as the father isn’t around anymore. She’s also been studying to try to become a civil servant as she’s dropped out of school to work full-time.
During her first trial she gets a five year sentence and has to go to prison. Her cellmates are all a lot older than Yoon-Young and all have very different personalities. Soon-Je, played by Kim Mi-Hwa, is the eldest and is serving a life sentence. She used to be a teacher.
Ri-Ra (Hwang Suk-Jung) is a bit hyper and not the most clever but she means well. There’s also Hae-Soo (Shin Eun-Jung) who’s in prison for running a pyramid scheme. Jang Mi (Jeon So-Min) is in prison because she was sentenced a month before the adultery law was revoked. The last prisoner in their cell is Yoo Sa-Rang (Yoon Mi-Kyung) who has anger management issues and has a hard time accepting Yoon-Young in the cell at first.
After adapting to her new situation, Yoon-Young discovers that she’s pregnant from the assault and her cellmates try to help her go through her pregnancy. Of course the unwanted pregnancy takes a toll on Yoon-Young’s mental state.
Overall
‘2037’ is a movie that shows so much heartbreak while also showing how kind female friendship can be. It’s an odd balance, but it’s there.
I cried (buckets) and laughed at the comic relief of the cellmates. Yoon-Young’s character really showed the duality of how young 19 is while also having so many adult responsibilities. It also explains some of her choices towards the end.
The movie is not for the faint of heart. I’m sure that I’ll think about this story in the coming months, just to feel the heartbreak all over again.
One point I did want to bring up was that they could have cut some of the 2 hour screen time. Some shots were unnecessarily long and could have been trimmed down.
Watch the trailer below.
If you enjoyed this film, you’ll probably like ‘Miracle in cell nr. 7’.
