Summer of Director Oh (2016) Movie Review

『The Shadows of Failure and the Desire for a Comeback: The Struggles of a Female Filmmaker』

🎥 Movie Overview

• 🎬 Title: Summer of Director Oh (Original title: Suspicious Sisters, 2016)
• 🌍 Country: 🇰🇷 South Korea
• 🎞️ Genre: Drama / Romance / Independent Film
• 🗓️ Production & Release: Independent theaters & festival distribution (Digital release in 2016)
• ⏳ Runtime: approx. 98 minutes
• 📢 Director: No Zin-soo (노진수)
• 🖋️ Screenplay: No Zin-soo (노진수)
• 📺 Platform: Festivals & digital distribution

👩‍💼 Cast: Ko Won (고원) – Oh Soo-jin (오수진)
Lee Chae-dam (이채담) – Nabi (나비)

🧩 Story Deep Dive (Spoilers)

🎬 CEO Park’s Proposal and Oh Soo-jin’s Counteroffer

Director Oh Soo-jin, after the commercial failure of her debut film Sky Girl, dreams of making a comeback. Struggling with financial hardship and the industry’s indifference, she receives an unexpected proposal from Park, a former gangster-turned-film director, who suggests making an erotic film featuring a Japanese AV actress. At first, she refuses out of pride, but under the crushing weight of poverty, she eventually reaches out to him again. This time, she proposes a bold idea: “What if all the crew members on set were women?”

💡 Recruiting Female Crew Members

Park accepts her idea but warns her with a threat: “If this movie fails, I’ll kill everyone,” while giving her a budget of 100 million KRW and only one week for shooting. Soo-jin immediately begins production, seeking out women who resonate with her vision and passion. Though lacking technical expertise in filmmaking, she gathers a team of talented women—a screenwriter, actresses, and crew members—each excelling in their own field.

⚙️ Obstacles During Filming

Once filming begins, unexpected crises erupt. One male actor and one male assistant director betray her. The lead actress, Erika, suddenly disappears. Production falls into chaos. Forced to make drastic changes, Director Oh revises the script on the spot, eventually finding a replacement actress, Nabi. Under immense pressure, with limited budget and time, she struggles through conflicts and setbacks, fighting to assert her own voice and style as a filmmaker.

🦋 Emotional Resonance and Meaning of the Work

🎞️ Between Realism and Boldness

When the erotic film faces collapse, Soo-jin chooses opportunity over despair. She radically shifts the project’s direction, deciding to film a “lesbian film created by women only” with the remaining female staff and actresses. This move rejects the male gaze and demands, centering instead on women’s perspectives and emotions. The film openly portrays the struggles of a female director striving to rise again, confronting societal prejudices and the limitations of the production environment while amplifying the female gaze and voice.

🔍 Expanding the Narrative of Female Filmmakers

Suspicious Sisters avoids reproducing male-driven sexual fantasies, instead depicting women’s love, relationships, and honest desires with authenticity. Through the filmmaking process, Soo-jin, along with her cast and crew, discovers that making a film is not merely about survival but about reclaiming the power to tell their own stories as an act of art.

🎭 Rewriting Cinema Through Women’s Eyes

Suspicious Sisters highlights female solidarity, where adversity becomes the catalyst for discovering their voices. The film transcends commercial success, showcasing the women’s determination to create a meaningful and authentic work. By completely overturning conventional formulas of erotic cinema, it proves its value as a “film made by women, for women.”

🎯 Personal Rating

💕 Love Scene Intensity: ♥♥♥♥♥
⭐ Overall Rating: ★★★★