Review

The synopsis might leave one wondering if a storyline from The Layover (2022), which was screened at the 23rd JEONJU IFF, accidentally slipped into this film. Though the two films share the same plot, The Layover unfolds as a New York-bound plane makes an emergency landing in Busan, while Layover Hotel follows six passengers whose flight to London is diverted to Kitakyushu, Japan, due to an emergency. As in the director's previous work, Layover Hotel opens with a quote from Austrian-Jewish philosopher Martin Buber: "All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware." The film explores what happens to the characters when a journey strays from its planned course. For Su-yeon and Mun-young, in a close senior-junior relationship, the detour offers an opportunity to rediscover each other's presence. For the flight attendant Yun-ju, who happens to share a room with a twelve-year-old girl named Ji-su, the unforeseen landing becomes a moment that forces her to confront the true nature of someone she thought she knew so well. For Chan-young, the unexpected time spent with his senior colleague Min-hee during their business trip gives him a chance to finally voice his long-held feelings. Layover Hotel captures the irony that only after veering off course do the unknowable, the unfelt, and the unseen emerge. The film, in the meantime, quietly showcases the scenery of Kitakyushu, enriching the atmosphere of the story. (MOON Seok)

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