Set Play: An Underage Hustle

Set Play looks as though shot with an Instagram filter. The footage comes with a cool blue cast, like the cinematographer pushed IG's Lark icon right before writer-director Moon Seung-wook shouted, "ACTION!" And what disturbing action lies ahead: Two teenaged boys (Lee Jae-kyoon, Sung Chul) hustle side money via petty theft and... entrapping then bribing middle-aged women in a sex-with-a-minor scheme. The "stud" of this crime duo comes up with the shorter end of their 70/30 stick; he's got a financially compromised mother (Park Hyun Sook), a brain-damaged brother, and a physically abusive drunk father (Kim Jung-seok). Who else is going to play man of the house?

Can he escape from the soul-crushing day-to-day by pushing his ditzy crush (Go Min-si) around in a shopping cart? For that matter, can she escape from her directionless existence by shooting a music-video on a manually activated merry-go-round? Do either of these activities gain glamor when shot on a mobile phone? (Because both are!) The world inhabited by these youngsters is bleak, culminating — at one point — in a fight scene during which the victor punches air. It's a powerful metaphor for rage without an outlet. There's no sunshine ahead either. By the end, Moon might've well as told his cameraman to switch the IG filter to his namesake filter or Willow or Inkwell as every color gets drained from these poor kids' lives.