--- title: "Burning: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/burning/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/burning" critics_score: 86 critics_reviews: 17 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Burning (2018): what the critics said Critics' score 86 from 17 reviews: 15 positive, 2 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics respond warmly to Burning, praising the way Lee Chang-dong builds unease from class resentment, jealousy and uncertain motives. The reviews repeatedly single out the three central performances, with Steven Yeun’s elusive Ben drawing particular attention. Praise also clusters around the controlled camerawork and the patient development of tension, as apparently ordinary encounters become troubling. For many, the unanswered questions give the characters and their social divisions more weight, rewarding close attention rather than simply withholding information. The main disagreement concerns how much uncertainty the film can sustain. Admirers find its slow pace absorbing and its ambiguity productive; the dissenting reviews find those same qualities distancing. The Financial Times admires the visual beauty but considers the uncertainty excessive and finds too many loose ends. Eye for Film is cooler about the emotional effect, describing a chilly, airless reserve. The dissent is limited but points to a clear divide over whether the mystery remains involving. ## Slant Magazine Rating 4/4. 10 September 2018. The review commends how the film obliterates the line between life and representation, investing aesthetic grandeur in the quotidian through its symbolic and naturalistic approach to class and ritual. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/burning/) ## The Telegraph — Tim Robey Rating 5/5. 31 January 2019. Burning is a daring study of buried class conflict in contemporary Seoul, of unspoken rage, palpable alienation and sexual longing. It features a skin-crawling climactic scene that bathes every previous one in a chilly new light. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/burning-review-daring-study-class-conflict-sexual-longing-blazes/) ## Los Angeles Times — Justin Chang Fi1m's normalised score 95/100 (inferred from the text). 29 October 2018. The critic calls it a mesmerizing drama of psychological unease and class rage, highlighting its layered ambiguity, rich character details, and masterful performances, especially Steven Yeun's as the enigmatic Ben. It shifts from romantic triangle to thriller with precision and mystery. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-burning-review-20181029-story.html) ## Little White Lies — David Jenkins Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 18 May 2018. Festival review. This is a monumental new work that was well worth the eight-year wait, a slow burn that meticulously unfurls over two-and-a-half hours with every frame finely calibrated. The critic singles out the intricate three-hander’s shift into a darker study of obsession and its indictment of class stricture in South Korea. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/festivals/burning-cannes-review) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 17 May 2018. Festival review. Lee Chang-dong has crafted a film of wondrous complexity and inscrutability that sets fire to the Cannes competition. The critic singles out the provocatively opaque story and the remarkable central performance by Ah-in Yoo as the ineffectual protagonist. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/burning-cannes-review/5129452.article) ## The AV Club Rating A-. 17 May 2018. Festival review. The critic calls it the late-breaking movie of Cannes, praising its slow dramatic simmer that builds to a shocking crescendo over two and a half hours, with strong performances and class themes. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/han-solo-brings-not-enough-fun-to-cannes-while-a-super-1826108687) ## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 25 October 2018. The critic praises the film's exploration of desire turning into rage among three characters in a divided world, noting its mystery-thriller qualities alongside political undercurrents. A standout scene features a woman dancing ecstatically outdoors to Miles Davis in the countryside. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/movies/burning-review.html) ## Empire — Ian Freer Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 28 January 2019. The film is an elliptical, ambiguous psychological thriller built on class conflicts and introspection that builds to injustice. It is brilliantly made, puzzling, intelligent and ultimately mesmerising, with strong performances especially from the breakout Jun Jong-seo. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/burning-3-review/) ## Evening Standard — Charlotte O'Sullivan Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 February 2019. Steven Yeun is compelling as a debonair rich man in this existential thriller with a genuinely weird yet casual mood. The bleak movie is one of the year’s best, with vibrant camerawork capturing new wealth and rural decay. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/burning-review-steven-yeun-deserves-to-be-a-household-name-a4055061.html) ## Time Out — Geoff Andrew Rating 4/5. 16 May 2018. Lee Chang-dong’s slow-burn Korean mystery is beautifully executed throughout, rich in teasing ambiguities. The critic singles out the three lead performances, the jazzy score and the immaculate camerawork that fits the shifting moods to perfection. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/burning) ## Financial Times — Nigel Andrews Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 30 January 2019. The film has a sinuous, tenebrous visual beauty but is haywire and elusive, with too much uncertainty spice. The ending is magnificent but there are many loose ends. [Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/7891b64a-249f-11e9-b329-c7e6ceb5ffdf) ## IndieWire — Eric Kohn 16 May 2018. Festival review. The review highlights the mesmerizing adaptation of a Murakami story as a tale of working-class frustrations and class dynamics in a slow-building narrative. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/burning-review-lee-chang-dong-steven-yeung-1201963075/) ## Sight and Sound — Tony Rayns 31 January 2019. The film is an exceptionally smart adaptation of a Murakami story into an ambiguous drama about drifting twentysomethings that reflects the anger of a restless generation. The critic singles out the way the script transforms the source material and seeds Jongsu’s imaginative and resentful arc with class tensions. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/burning-review-lee-changdongs-drama-sparks-with-rage-imagination) ## The Guardian 2 February 2019. Lee Chang-dong’s elegant mystery is full of pleasingly unsettling moments and a restrained ambiguity in the storytelling. It encourages viewers to construct and dismantle their own conclusions about the characters and events. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/feb/02/burning-review-lee-chang-dong-steven-yeun) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Todd McCarthy 16 May 2018. Festival review. The critic praises the film's subtle storytelling and performances in this slow-burn thriller about class and jealousy, noting it sustains interest over its length and pays off with a violent climax. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/burning-review-1112684/) ## The Times — Kevin Maher Rating ★★★★☆. 1 February 2019. A twisted love triangle at the core of this Korean thriller becomes something far more unsettling thanks to a bracing midway plot jolt and a powerful atmosphere of doom and dread. It is more entertaining and artful than it sounds. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/article/burning-review-s007mx3mz) ## The Playlist — Jordan Ruimy Rating A. 21 May 2018. Festival review. The critic calls the film a masterful, mesmerizing psychological thriller and ranks it among the year's best, praising its subtle handling of triangulated relationships, class and jealousy. They single out the precise writing and atmospheric tension for praise. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/burning-lee-chang-dong-review-20180521/) ## The Ringer — Adam Nayman Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 26 October 2018. Lee Chang-dong’s film is one of the year’s best, a flawless metaphysical mystery and exercise in suggestiveness about a love triangle and class warfare. It is praised for its sophisticated visuals, pressurized suspense, and complex character work that rewards close viewing. [Read the review](https://www.theringer.com/2018/10/26/movies/burning-movie-review-steven-yeun) ## /Film — Siddhant Adlakha Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 17 October 2018. Festival review. The critic describes the film as a haunting mystery about the stories men tell and the lives they destroy, praising its purposeful frustration of mysteries and its chilling portrait of class, power and narrative control. They single out the performances of Yoo Ah-in and Steven Yeun and the exploration of inertia and obsession for praise. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/561730/burning-movie-analysis/) ## Consequence Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 31 October 2018. The film is a deliberate, slow-building thriller that excels at creating dread through its chronicle of class struggle in modern South Korea. It stands out for its intimate portrait of privilege and its languid storytelling that leads to a sense of paranoia. [Read the review](https://consequence.net/2018/10/film-review-burning/) ## The Skinny — Ian Mantgani Rating ★★★★. 29 January 2019. Festival review. The critic describes Burning as a stark, tantalising thriller that begins like a rom-com but shifts into mystery with a haunting, poisoned air. It singles out the film's exploration of social dynamics, class tensions, and obsession as it plants seeds of doubt alongside the protagonist. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/lff-2018-burning) ## Eye for Film — Sunil Chauhan Rating 3/5. 9 December 2018. The critic finds the film a chilly, cerebral proposition that is easier to admire than love, noting its ambivalence bordering on the inscrutable and its efficient ticking off of themes like class and masculinity. They single out its distant, airless reserve and unsatisfying climax for complaint. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/burning-2018-film-review-by-sunil-chauhan) ## HeyUGuys — Linda Marric 1 February 2019. The critic praises Lee Chang-dong's faultlessly executed film as a thought-provoking and devastating story of paranoia, moral ambiguity and jealousy. She highlights its stunning execution, expert acting and accessibility despite its symbolic depth. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/burning-review/) ## The Wrap — Ben Croll 24 October 2018. Festival review. The critic praises the film as a slow-burn tale of alienation and obsession that rewards close attention with its lyrical and unpredictable qualities. One standout element is the director's breathtaking cinematic sequences, such as a silhouetted dance to Miles Davis at sunset. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/burning-film-review-korean-auteur-lee-chang-dong-returns-breathtaking-drama/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/burning.md