Kim Hyun Joo Is Torn Between Hope And Unease When Her Missing Son Returns After 9 Years In “Paradise Lost”

Director Yeon Sang Ho’s new film “Paradise Lost” has unveiled new stills of Kim Hyun Joo in character!
“Paradise Lost” is a thriller that follows Sun Woo (Bae Hyeon Seong), a son who returns home after being missing for nine years. While he was gone, his mother So Young (Kim Hyun Joo) had been soothing her pain by interacting with a childhood version of her son through an artificial intelligence (AI) program. However, she begins to feel uneasy around the “new” Sun Woo, leading to an uncomfortable cohabitation between mother and son.
Kim Hyun Joo plays Ryu So Young, a mother who lost her son and must navigate a whirlwind of grief and confusion.
“Paradise Lost” marks Kim Hyun Joo’s latest collaboration with director Yeon Sang Ho, following “Hellbound,” “Jung_E,” and “The Bequeathed.” She has become one of the first actors Yeon Sang Ho thinks of when developing a new project, thanks to her ability to capture the essence of her characters and bring authenticity to every performance, even within the distinctive and ever-changing worlds of his films and series.
For “Paradise Lost,” Yeon Sang Ho said that Kim Hyun Joo was the only actress he had in mind for the role of Ryu So Young from the very beginning. Describing it as “an extremely difficult role in which too strong a performance can feel artificial, while holding back too much can make the emotions difficult for the audience to pick up on,” he explained, “I wanted to entrust this role to the most trustworthy actress I have worked with throughout my filmmaking career.”
Ryu So Young has spent the past nine years coping with the loss of her son by interacting with a younger version of him through the AI program “Children of Paradise.” When her son Ryu Sun Woo, whom she believed to be dead, miraculously returns alive one day, she is overwhelmed by confusion and anxiety as she encounters a presence completely different from the innocent boy she remembers.
Reflecting on So Young’s emotions at that moment, Kim Hyun Joo said, “Because it was a reality that was difficult to believe, the first thing she felt was the unfamiliarity of having a stranger man appear in front of her.” Through her signature depth and emotional nuance, Kim Hyun Joo brings to life a deeply complex character who is unable to find a moment of stability. Yeon Sang Ho praised her performance, saying, “She created a character who is much easier for the audience to understand than I had expected, while also guiding them through Ryu So Young’s complicated emotions in a way that feels accessible.”
The newly released stills capture So Young’s emotional turmoil through contrasting moods. In the first still, she stands in a doorway and looks inside with a gaze filled with worry and confusion, conveying her anguish as she faces the reality of a son who is different from the one in her memories.

In the second still, she sits in a dark car with a determined expression, simultaneously revealing So Young’s inner strength and anxiety as she struggles to keep herself from falling apart.

“Paradise Lost” will hit theaters on October 21.
While waiting, watch Kim Hyun Joo in “Watcher”:
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