Yeon Sang-ho's 'Paradise Lost' to premiere at Toronto film fest

A poster for Korean director Yeon Sang-ho's upcoming film "Paradise Lost." Courtesy of CJ ENM and Wow Point

Director Yeon Sang-ho's upcoming film "Paradise Lost" will have its world premiere at this year's Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the film's distributor said Tuesday.

The mystery thriller will be screened in the Special Presentations section of the 51st edition of the prestigious festival, set for Sept. 10-20, according to CJ ENM.

"Paradise Lost" follows So-young (Kim Hyun-joo), who uses an artificial intelligence (AI) program to remember her son, Sun-woo (Bae Hyun-sung), who went missing, but finds herself discomforted when he actually returns after nine years.

Yeon called the film, based on the Korean novel "Black Inferno," one of his darkest pieces that portrays a mother who grapples between the son she has reinvented through AI and her real son.

TIFF's Special Presentations section is known for showcasing outstanding contemporary films from around the world.

It has previously featured iconic Korean films, including Bong Joon-ho's "Mother" (2009) and "Parasite" (2019), Park Chan-wook's "The Handmaiden" (2016) and "Decision to Leave" (2022), Kim Jee-woon's "The Age of Shadows" (2016) and Ryoo Seung-wan's "I, the Executioner" (2024).

Yeon returns to TIFF in just a year, following the screening of his mystery thriller "The Ugly" last year.