Seoul,South Korea – November 3,2025 - Director Bang Mi-ri defines salvation as “the act of letting go of one’s shackles,” as revealed in a recent interview with Elle Korea regarding her new film,The Saver of life,opening November 5th. The film explores themes of life, death, and the meaning of family following a tragic fire.
Bang Mi-ri explains the film’s central characters, se-jeong (played by Kim Pureum) and Eun-sook (played by song Seon-mi), achieve salvation through mutual support. Se-jeong, burdened by guilt, finds freedom through Eun-sook’s simple affirmation: “Your birthday is a day that can be celebrated.” conversely, Eun-sook finds purpose in being remembered by Se-jeong.
The director emphasizes her intention to move beyond a “grayish social accusation” frequently enough associated with stories of hardship, aiming rather to showcase Se-jeong’s “vitality.” Bang Mi-ri describes family not as a matter of blood relation, but as “people who remember each other in a special way,” celebrating milestones and preserving memories.
Regarding her direction of the lead actresses, Bang Mi-ri requested Kim Pureum portray Se-jeong with “firmness,” as “a child who does not lose his or her light even when the world is dark.” For Song Seon-mi, she sought to capture the “ambiguity” of Eun-sook, a character who appears both potentially benevolent and deceptive.
Reflecting on the filmmaking process,Bang Mi-ri stated she “felt the importance of people” and realized “nothing can be accomplished alone.” She intends to explore darker themes of human interaction in future projects, describing them as stories of “humans meeting and destroying each other.”
