Little Forest

After a grueling stretch in Seoul, Hye-won (Kim Tae-ri) packs up and heads back to her childhood home in a quiet farming village. She's not running from anything specific, just the noise and pressure of city life. In the countryside, she reconnects with old friends Jae-ha (Ryu Jun-yeol) and Eun-sook (Jin Ki-joo), and starts cooking meals from the vegetables she grows and the wild greens she forages. Directed by Yim Soon-rye, this gentle drama unfolds across four seasons, showing how small daily rituals can heal a restless mind.

The film is an adaptation of the Japanese manga series by Daisuke Igarashi, and Yim brings a distinctly Korean flavor to the story. Kim Tae-ri, fresh off her breakout in The Handmaiden, anchors the film with a quiet, grounded performance. The supporting cast, including Moon So-ri as Hye-won's absent mother and Park Won-sang as a local postman, adds warmth and depth. With a runtime of just under two hours, the movie moves at a contemplative pace, letting the camera linger on steaming bowls of rice and frost-covered fields.

Released in February 2018, Little Forest earned strong reviews and a solid 7.6 rating from audiences. It's a slice-of-life drama that celebrates simple pleasures, and it's a reminder that sometimes the bravest thing you can do is slow down and taste your food. [edit]

Hye-won, a young woman in her mid-20s, has been living in Seoul, working a part-time job and studying for the national teacher certification exam. When she fails the test, she feels a deep sense of failure and disillusionment. The city's relentless pace and the pressure to succeed weigh on her, and she decides to leave it all behind. She returns to her childhood home in a small farming village, a place she hasn't visited in years. The house, with its vegetable patches and surrounding forest, has been empty since her mother's sudden departure.

Back in the village, Hye-won reconnects with her two childhood friends: Jae-ha, a laid-back guy who does odd jobs and seems content with his simple life, and Eun-sook, a hardworking woman who runs a small shop and takes care of her family. The three quickly fall back into an easy rhythm, spending time together, chatting, and sharing meals. Hye-won begins to garden, forage for wild greens, and cook with whatever the land offers. Each season brings new ingredients and new dishes, from hearty stews in winter to fresh vegetable plates in summer. These cooking scenes become a form of meditation, a way for Hye-won to slow down and heal.

Through flashbacks and letters from her mother, Hye-won pieces together fragments of her family history. Her mother left without explanation, and Hye-won has carried that resentment. As she cooks, she tries to recreate the flavors of her childhood, hoping to understand her mother's choices. The village is populated with warm, quirky characters, including a friendly postman and an elderly neighbor who shares her wisdom. Hye-won's friends embody different approaches to life: Jae-ha seems at peace with staying, while Eun-sook occasionally wonders about the opportunities she's missed.

The film's structure follows the turning of seasons, and with each one, Hye-won grows more confident in her cooking and more connected to the land. She learns to preserve vegetables, brew traditional drinks, and bake bread in a stone oven. The question that quietly drives the story is whether Hye-won will find enough in this small world to stay, or whether the pull of the city, and the unresolved questions about her mother, will draw her away again. The narrative is less about plot and more about the rhythms of daily life, the changing landscape, and the small moments of connection that slowly mend a wounded heart.[edit]