The Square

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL: The Square 🇰🇵 

This year’s Tribeca Film Festival played host to the North American premiere of South Korean director Bo-sol Kim’s breathtaking feature film debut, THE SQUARE.

THE SQUARE is the story of a forbidden romance that takes place in North Korea involving a Swedish diplomat named Isak Borg and local Pyongyang officer Bok-joo. Isak and Bok-joo are forced to keep their blossoming love for each other hidden from the watchful eye of the country's secret service, but eventually their luck runs out and Bok-joo disappears without a word or a trace. This leads Isak to chase down any bread crumbs he can find with the hope of locating his love before his visa expires and he’s sent back to Sweden—for good.

There’s nothing more heartbreaking than seeing two people who are truly, deeply in love be doomed from the very moment they meet.

Isak is a man treated like the foreigner that he is at every turn and corner of his days in North Korea, and the totality of those interactions takes a toll on him that is only lessened during those moments of peace he finds with Bok-joo. Bok-joo, on the other hand, understands the country she was born in and tries her best to work within the confines of the law, knowing she’s walking a fine line of letting love win and losing everything she’s worked for.

If you’re a romantic, you’re rooting for Isak, but if you’re a realist, you understand where Bok-joo is coming from.

They have to put up a facade when they’re together just so they can be in the same space, knowing it’s nothing like how they want it to be, which is a torture in its own right.

A part of me wanted them to get swept away in the chaos of their love even if it came at the cost of everyone around them, but everything plays out the way it should and that gut punch of this story not being the traditional happily ever after (which most audiences will hope for) is also what will make it so memorable.

At face value, that’s what THE SQUARE is, a tragic love story, but it also emphasizes the value of human connection.

The third player in this story is Isak’s coworker, the silent third wheel, Lee Myeong-jun. He is an interpreter for the embassy but is also tasked with watching over Isak. The life he lives is one he has grown accustomed to, yet when he sees the potential of what else is out there, you can see the subtle shift of what was once an accepted fate slowly becoming a man wanting to remove the shackles of his nation's restrictive ways.

What enhances the experience of these characters and this story is the rich texture from a diligently crafted hand drawn, 2D animation style which has a way of making you feel the crisp cold air and crunching snow as if you were stepping in it yourself. As the emotions change, so does the colour pallete of what we see on screen and that is further elevated by the passionate performances in the voice acting of Jeon Woon-jong, Lee Chan-yong, Lee Ga-young, and Lee You-jun.  

It took five years for Bo-sol Kim and his team to complete this project, and that shows with the care and quality of what we as an audience get to see on screen.

THE SQUARE is a defeating story of isolation that will make your heart ache for a love that was never allowed to see the light of day. This is an impressive debut for first-time feature filmmaker Bo-sol Kim, and I'm excited to see what he has in store for us next. 

Enjoy!

7.6/10 🍿 🎥

Runtime: 1hr12mins

Where: The 2025 Tribeca Film Festival

The Square Review (2025) The Richmond Reviewer - June 11th, 2025.

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