| Burning | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Hangul | 버닝 |
| Revised Romanization | Beoning |
| Directed by | Lee Chang-dong |
| Screenplay by |
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| Based on | "Barn Burning" by
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| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Hong Kyung-pyo |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Mowg |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | CGV Arthouse |
Release date |
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Running time | 148 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
| Box office | US$8.1 million |
Burning (Korean: 버닝; RR: Beoning) is a 2018 South Korean psychological thriller film[3][4] co-written, produced, and directed by Lee Chang-dong. The film is based on the short stories "Barn Burning" from The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami and "Barn Burning" by William Faulkner.[5] It stars Yoo Ah-in, Steven Yeun, and Jeon Jong-seo. The plot depicts a young deliveryman, Jong-su (Yoo), who runs into his childhood friend, Hae-mi (Jeon). They soon meet an enigmatic young man named Ben (Yeun), who Jong-su becomes suspicious of and begins to believe Hae-mi is in danger.
The first film by Lee after a hiatus of eight years, the film premiered on May 16, 2018, at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or; it ended up receiving the FIPRESCI International Critics' Prize at the festival. It was released the following day in South Korea and on October 26, 2018, in the United States.
It received almost universal critical acclaim,[6] particularly for its sense of unease, ambiguous narrative, and performances. It was selected as the South Korean entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards; although it was not nominated, it became the first Korean film to make it to the final nine-film shortlist; another South Korean film, Parasite (2019), won that award at the following year's ceremony. It received numerous other accolades, and was included on several critics' "top ten" lists for the year 2018, notably those of The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the Associated Press. It has been widely regarded by several critics to be one of the best films of the 21st century,[7][8] among its voted the all-time best Korean films by Korean Screen, with over 150 critics from 28 countries.