Gong Do-hee (Yoon Jeong-hee) is at the top of the food chain as a successful corporate tycoon living the high life. But she’s haunted. After a vivid, chilling dream about her deceased twin sister, she decides to ditch the boardroom and take a drive to the coast, looking for a little peace.

Instead, she finds a nightmare. She gets snatched and ends up stranded on a remote island, held captive by a gruff, isolated fisherman who has a delusional, unwavering conviction that she is his runaway wife. It’s a terrifying reversal of fortune: one day you’re calling the shots in the city, the next you’re a prisoner in a shack, forced to inhabit a life that isn’t yours.

This is modernist Korean cinema at its most daring. It’s shot through the lens of the 1970s—a dark, oppressive era for the country—and you can feel that tension in every frame. Kim Soo-yong uses the island’s isolation to turn the screws on the audience. It’s claustrophobic, surreal and deeply unsettling.

What makes this special is the subtext. Back in the day, the censors were watching everything, but Kim managed to weave a powerful, biting message about political oppression and the loss of individual identity right into the narrative. It’s the kind of high-stakes, everything-is-being-taken-from-me cinema that hits harder when you realize what the director was up against.

The fisherman’s delusion isn’t just a plot point; it’s a terrifying exploration of how easily a person can be erased. When someone tells you who you are long enough, do you start to believe it? Knowing the history of 1970s Korea adds a layer of dread to the film. 

Splendid Outing is a haunting piece of work that proves the most effective horror isn’t always supernatural—sometimes, it’s just the sudden, brutal removal of your autonomy.

The Radiance Films release of this film has a new 4K restoration by Radiance Films, audio commentary by Ariel Schudson, interviews with Lee Chang-dong and assistant director Chung Ji-young, and a visual essay by Pierce Conran. It comes in a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow with a limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Chung Chong-hwa and Pierce Conran and archival writing by Director Kim Soo-yong, It’s a limited edition of 2500 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings. You can get it from MVD.