Films that aim to refresh moviegoers who are exhausted by the pandemic are dominating the screens during the Lunar New Year holiday, widely known as Seollal.

The Disney-Pixar animated film “Soul,” which opened Jan. 20 and became the first movie of 2021to reach more than 1.2 million viewers here, comforts viewers with its colorful images, its music, and its hopeful and relatable message.

“Soul” follows schoolteacher Joe, who dreams of becoming a jazz musician. One day, Joe auditions for the band of jazz legend Dorothea Williams and gets a chance to perform later that night. As Joe heads off to prepare for the show, he falls down a manhole and ends up in the “Great Before.”

Highly anticipated romantic comedy “New Year Blues,” directed by Hong Ji-young, opened Wednesday and comforts South Korean viewers with scenes filmed in Argentina.

In the movie, part-time worker Jin-ah (Lee Yeon-hee) goes off to Argentina on a whim and meets Jae-heon (Yoo Yeon-seok), who moved there because he was exhausted from working in Korea. The two enjoy sunsets and Iguazu Falls together, and they let go of all their stress from Korea.
 

“Since we cannot travel now, I hope viewers can get pleasure from watching our scenes in the movie,” Lee Yeon-hee said during a press conference ahead of the film’s release.

Some movies in local theaters hope to refresh viewers’ souls by looking at human relationships. 

“Three Sisters,” which opened Jan. 27, is the story of three sisters -- oldest sister Hee-sook, middle sister Mi-yeon and youngest sister Mi-ok -- who find it difficult to keep in touch, each saddled with problems of her own. The three sisters finally get together in their hometown for their father’s birthday. The gathering triggers unpleasant childhood memories they thought they’d forgotten, but at the same time provides an opportunity to bond.

Actor Kim Hyang-gi’s heartwarming family drama “I,” released Wednesday, revolves around two women who come to form a strong bond despite their differences.

In the movie, former foster child Ah-young (Kim Hyang-gi) is a babysitter working for single mom Young-chae (Ryu Hyun-kyung). The two women do not get along at the beginning, but they eventually build a sisterhood as they go through different financial and social obstacles together.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)