{
  "id": 8189594,
  "title": "Korean director Yeon Sang-ho credits mother for inspiring new film 'Paradise Lost'",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/korean-director-yeon-sang-ho-credits-mother-for-inspiring-new-film-8189594",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-18T06:32:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times-koreatimes",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/films/20260918/korean-director-yeon-sang-ho-credits-mother-for-inspiring-new-film-paradise-lost"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Korean film director Yeon Sang-ho, known for hits such as Colony (2026), The Ugly (2025), and the blockbuster Train to Busan (2016), announced on Friday that his latest project, Paradise Lost, was directly inspired by a three-page story penned by his own mother. The psychological thriller tells the unsettling tale of So-young (played by Kim Hyun-joo) and her son Sun-woo (played by Bae Hyun-sung), who reunite after nine years, believing the son had died in a school bus accident. Director Yeon revealed at a press conference in Seoul that his mother had always been supportive of his screenwriting ambitions, even when he doubted his own abilities. During one visit, she presented him with a three-page story she had written, which became the foundation for Paradise Lost. Yeon playfully mentioned that he bought the story at a discounted price, stating, \"I wasn't sure how it would work out, so I bought it from her at a discount.\" The director's adaptation of his mother's narrative focuses on the third and final version of the screenplay he developed. Yeon, who previously explored a father-son relationship in his low-budget film, brings a personal touch to Paradise Lost.",
  "summary": "Yeon Sang-ho, the prolific Korean filmmaker behind the hits \"Colony\" (2026), \"The Ugly\" (2025) and \"Train to Busan\" (2016), said Friday his latest film, \"Paradise Lost,\" was inspired by a three-page story penned by his own mother. \"Paradise Lost\" is a psychological thriller that follows the unsettling reunion between So-young (Kim Hyun-joo) and her son Sun-woo (Bae Hyun-sung), who was presumed to…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Gulf News",
        "title": "Han So-Hee and Choi Min Sik's The Intern becomes first Korean film to top box office in 50 days, beats Odyssey",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/han-so-hee-and-choi-min-siks-the-intern-becomes-first-korean-film-to",
        "published": "2026-09-18T03:00:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Yonhap News",
        "title": "Korean director Yeon Sang-ho credits mother for inspiring new film 'Paradise Lost'",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/korean-director-yeon-sang-ho-credits-mother-for-inspiring-new-film-8188916",
        "published": "2026-09-18T05:55:25.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "Korean director Yeon Sang-ho credits mother for inspiring new film 'Paradise Lost'",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/korean-director-yeon-sang-ho-credits-mother-for-inspiring-new-film",
        "published": "2026-09-18T06:22:03.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}