Take Care of My Cat

Five girls start to come apart after high school. One moves to Seoul and lands a decent job; the others stay in Incheon. Nobody fights, nobody decides to end anything. The calls just get rarer, meeting gets harder, and there is less in common to talk about. A kitten passed between them becomes the quiet witness to the unravelling. Jeong Jae-eun's first film stands well outside the Korean mainstream of its moment: class difference, unemployment and the pull of the big city work underneath the whole story. Bae Doona gives one of the best performances of her early career as Tae-hee, who forms a bond with a young man with cerebral palsy who writes poetry. It opened on 12 October 2001 and sank completely, taking under ten thousand dollars. A campaign started by industry figures and residents of Incheon tried to extend its run. Over the years it became one of the most cited Korean films of that period. Who it's for: Viewers who like films about friendships quietly dissolving, and Korean cinema of the 2000s. Who it's not for: It is nearly eventless and builds feeling through gaps rather than dialogue, which can read as inert if you want a defined conflict.