Aimie (Jiseon Kim) is lost in a netherworld of her own making. She recently moved with her mother from Korea to Toronto, secretly dropped out of her English class and spent the tuition refund on jewelry. And when she isn't moping alone, she only hangs out with one person -- a near-comatose petty thief named Tran (Taegu Andy Kang) who smokes, stares into space and makes listless seduction attempts.
"In Between Days" is a first feature by So Yong Kim that made a nice little splash at Sundance last year, and it accomplishes exactly what it sets out to accomplish: Using relentless close-ups and long silences, director Kim forces us to focus on Jiseon Kim's face and study every nuance of her loneliness, emptiness, jealousy and longing for 82 merciless (but oddly beautiful) minutes. This is the actress' first feature, too, and she's wonderful; when Aimie periodically flashes Tran a look or lights up in surprise, it feels like the sun peeking out from behind an eclipse.
B; 82 minutes; unrated; showing at Portland's Living Room Theaters.
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