The Fin

In an ecologically devastated Korea in the postwar era of a perhaps not-so-distant future, mutated outcasts—so-called Omegas—are captured and exploited as cheap labor. Mia, an Omega living in hiding, works in a shady fish shop that turns people’s longing for the sea and the freedom of the open water into cash. When Sujin, a newly appointed enforcement officer working for the government, notices Mia’s unusual behavior, she begins to investigate and uncovers a hidden world that challenges her previously unshakable belief in the ruling regime’s ideology.

Drawing on his short film of the same title from 2017 and deeply shaken by personal losses during the pandemic, director Park Syeyoung reflects in his work on fear, grief, and helplessness that arise when familiar systems collapse.

THE FIN is set in a dystopian world sometime after the reunification of Korea, shedding light on repressive structures that turn brainwashed citizens against a marginalized underclass—one they are taught to fear, yet are also meant to exploit. This world is rendered in vivid colors: metal-infused landscapes, blood-red skies, and air heavy with visible pollution create a sensory dystopia that mirrors the moral and emotional decay within. With its tension-driven narrative and striking visual language, THE FIN is nothing less than a visually stunning exploration of systemic oppression, human resilience, and the existential contradictions of a society on the brink.