World Premiere
Seo Eun-sun makes her feature debut with this tense psychological thriller. Lee Hayoung (Choi Seung-yoon) is a trainer who works domesticating rescue dogs, a job she’s dedicated to in part because she likes to dominate. Hayoung’s sister Sora (Kim Seung-hwa) is fresh out of prison and harbours some hard feelings; likewise, Hayoung distrusts her ex-con sister, just as she distrusts anyone she can’t control. As the sisters’ uncomfortable reunion takes shape, a vicious dog escapes, leaving Hayoung on the hook to find it. Sora takes an interest in the situation, and from there things ratchet further and further up, leading to a cathartic and tragic climax.
Wrangler is a film about the mystery of character and the maddening inaccessibility of others’ minds. Seo’s film features complex characterization and subtext that descends from the easily apparent to murkier depths. On the surface are envy, fear, and wrath; below lie motivations that are even scarier because they’re, on some level, unknowable.
Oct 3 & 4: Q&A
Cooperating Organizations
Media Partner
Community Partner
Choi Seung-yoon, Kim Seung-hwa, Jung Hwan, Kim Dasol, Joo Ye-rin
South Korea
2025
In Korean with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Joh Gun-shik
Producer
Son Bit-na
Screenwriter
Seo Eun-sun
Cinematography
Lee Ju-hwan
Editor
Seo Eun-sun
Production Design
Lee A-young
Original Music
Koo Ja-wan
Seo Eun-sun
After graduating with a degree in Film from Myongji University, Seo pursued film directing at the Korean Academy of Film Arts. Her graduation project, Hot Summer Night (2015), was screened at the Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival and the Seoul Independent Film Festival. The film won Best Screenplay at the Paris Korean Film Festival and Best Film at the Jeju Film Festival. Wrangler is her feature debut, developed through KAFA’s feature film production research program.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
A Poet
When embittered poet Oscar Restrepo takes a job at a local high school, he meets Yurlady, a talented student from a poor background. Seeking to help her cultivate her art, he draws her into the poetry world — to disastrous and comedic results.
It Was Just an Accident
Having offered some late-night assistance to a stranger in the wake of an auto accident, a mechanic grows convinced that he recognizes the supposed stranger’s voice as that of his torturer during a grueling prison spell.
The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes
A beautiful portrait of E.J. Hughes, who quietly helped reshape the artistic landscape of British Columbia in the 20th century. This extraordinary documentary explores Hughes’s legacy not only as an artist, but as a devoted, humble human being.
Spring After Spring
Three daughters strive to live up to the standards set by their mother Marie Mimi Ho, and keep Vancouver Chinatown's Spring Parade going through thick and thin, in this enormously affectionate local documentary by Jon Chiang.
Seeds
Shot over nine years, Brittany Shyne’s Sundance-winning documentary is a tender portrait of Black farming families in the American South. A moving meditation on land, legacy, and the strength it takes to hold on.