Concrete Utopia

Concrete Utopia (Korean: 콘크리트 유토피아) is a 2023 South Korean disaster-thriller film directed by Um Tae-hwa and starring Lee Byung-hun, Park Seo-joon and Park Bo-young. The film is based on the second part of webtoon Pleasant Bullying by Kim Soongnyung,[3] which is about an earthquake and its aftermath.[4][5][6] It was theatrically released on August 9, 2023.[7][8][9]

The film generally received positive reviews from critics,[10] and was selected as South Korean entry in the Best International Feature Film category for the 96th Academy Awards on August 17, 2023.[11][12]

Synopsis
Survivors of an earthquake shack up at Imperial Palace Apartments in Seoul. Yeong-tak (Lee Byung-hun) leads them with help from Min-seong (Park Seo-joon), a public servant, and his nurse wife Myeong-hwa (Park Bo-young).
Casting
On August 4, 2020, Lotte Entertainment announced a disaster thriller film with Um Tae-hwa as director and Lee Byung-hun and Park Bo-young in pivotal roles.[21] Park Seo-joon was also named to star in the film to be based on webtoon Pleasant Bullying by Kim Soongnyung.[13][22] Park Ji-hu[15] and Kim Do-yoon joined the cast in April 2021.[16]

The film is directed by Um Tae-hwa and produced by Climax Studio, and co-produced by BH Entertainment. It is distributed by Lotte Entertainment, who also work as international sales agent for the film.[1] The music of the film is composed by Kim Hae-won, while Cho Hyoung-rae is the cinematographer.[23]

Filming
Principal photography began on April 16, 2021.[24][25] The filming was finished in the end of August 2021.[26]

Release
The film theatrically released on August 9, 2023, and was screened at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival in Gala section on September 9 for press and on September 10 for public at Roy Thomson Hall.[27][23] It is also invited to the 'Òrbita competition section' of the 56th Sitges International Film Festival to be held from October 5 to 15. It has also made to the 'Spotlight on Korea section' at the Hawaii International Film Festival, which opens on October 12, 2023.[28]