I was looking for female directors and came across this tantalizing short film. At the age of 21, Go Min Si wrote, directed, and starred in Parallel Novel.

This film reminded me of the SpongeBob episode when the pencil with magical powers came into his possession. I wish this film had been longer to develop the elements we were teased with in this fleeting story. In 3 minutes Go Min Si created two worlds, filmed beautifully. With no spoken dialogue the emotions were played out perfectly with body language and aided by the tense musical background. There was more suspense in 90 seconds than some movies accomplish in 2 hours.

What I loved the most about this concise and well paced film was that the female character stood up for herself against a terrible male writer who had subjected her to some of the worst tropes aimed at women. I only wished she had taught him a better lesson!

Go Min Si showed great promise with this short film. I'm disappointed that 8 years later she hasn't had any more screenwriting or directing credits. I'd really like to see what she could do with a bigger budget and full length format. If you have 3 minutes to spare, I could easily recommend Parallel Novel.

19 June 2024