Program Note
Director Seo Eun-young's fourth feature following Overman (2016), Go back (2021), and Ditto (2022). The film starts with a question surrounding Hae-sung, the boy who died and the main culprit of the bombing. Classroom Delusions "why would he do such a thing?" Hae-sung did not turn away from the weak, but he was far from an apostle of justice. He was a friendly child to someone, but he was strangely didn't blend in with anyone. Teacher Jaegon and lawyer Yeojin gather fragmented testimony by searching for people around Hae-sung, but attempts to define the character Haesung are constantly blocked by a wall and do not converge to a single answer. Eventually, a boy who liked quizzes becomes a problem that will remain an eternal mystery. Instead of investigating the cause and effect of the incident, Classroom Delusions focuses on exploring why the explanation is impossible. This journey soon reveals the emptiness and deficiency of the community, the incompetence and ignorance of adults, and the reproductive structure of violence. The camera often zooms out, illuminating the characters like beings in isolated tanks. What should they do to get out of the tank? The movie asks how those left behind in a world of mixed violence and chaos can listen to each other's voices. (CHA Hanbi)