Skip to main content
A Normal Family film image

A Normal Family

This event has passed

Two siblings, a successful but unprincipled lawyer (Sul Kyung-gu) and his conscientious pediatrician brother (Jang Dong-gun), lead prosperous lives and get along well despite their divergent moral beliefs. But things come to a head during one of their regular monthly dinners with their wives, where they learn of a disturbing situation involving both their teenage kids. As the consequences of this dreadful discovery spiral out of control, the families are confronted with an unimaginable choice. Adapted from Dutch author Herman Koch’s controversial bestselling novel The Dinner, A Normal Family transposes the story action to the cultural specifics of present-day South Korea, but maintains the original’s darkly suspenseful core. No stranger to thorny material, having helmed a 2012 adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons, Korean director Hur Jin-ho directs this drama of privilege and moral decay with clockwork precision. Tense and absorbing, this thriller puts a sinister, unforgettable twist on the notion that blood ties are the ties that bind.

 

Supported by

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Sul Kyung-gu, Jang Dong-gun, Kim Hee-ae, Claudia Kim

Credits
Country of Origin

South Korea

Year

2023

Series

Special Presentations

Language

In Korean with English subtitles

Film Contact
Content Warning

Violence

18+
116 min
Action & Suspense Drama

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits

Producer

Kim Won-kuk

Cinematography

Go Rak-sun

Editor

Kim Hyung-joo

Production Design

Mo so-ra

Original Music

Cho Sung-woo

Director

Hur Jin-ho headshot

Hur Jin-ho

In 1993, Hur Jin-ho’s first short film premiered at VIFF. His feature debut followed five years later: Christmas In August which won many best director awards. Since then, he has produced a distinctive brand: “Hur Jin-ho’s romance”. Love is his favourite theme. With a record of 5.6M admissions for The Last Princess in 2016, he became a director with box office credibility.

Filmography: Christmas In August (1998); A Good Rain Knows (2009); Dangerous Liaisons (2012); The Last Princess (2016); Forbidden Dream (2019)

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Vermiglio

Dir. Maura Delperro
119 min

Delperro's exquisitely photographed movie -- Italy's submission for the Academy Awards -- recreates the austere and harsh lifestyle in an Alpine village at the tail end of WWII with revelatory care and compassion.

VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Living Together

Dir. Halima Elkhatabi
75 min

Halima Elkhatabi’s delightful documentary feature takes us to 15 apartments in Montreal, where a diverse assortment of potential roommates interview each other as they search for compatibility, authentic connections, and a place to call home.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Emilia Pérez

Dir. Jacques Audiard
132 min

When a defence attorney (Zoe Saldana) is enlisted to tend to the affairs of a notorious drug lord (Karla Sofía Gascón) completing gender affirmation surgery, there will be blood, ballads, and dance numbers. A maximalist musical from Jacques Audiard.

VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Theater of Thought

Dir. Werner Herzog
108 min

Werner Herzog investigates the human mind in this free-associative philosophical comedy about a mad filmmaker interrogating some of the most brilliant minds in science.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

A New Kind of Wilderness

Dir. Silje Evensmo Jacobsen
84 min

An idyllic life on a family farm in Norway becomes an impossible task when Nik's wife dies from cancer. This quietly affecting film follows his struggles to do right by his kids, himself, and his late wife's wishes.

VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back

Dir. D.A. Pennebaker
96 min

Bob Dylan is captured on-screen as he never would be again in this groundbreaking film from D. A. Pennebaker. The legendary documentarian finds Dylan in England during his 1965 tour, which would be his last as an acoustic artist.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre