[2] Starring Moon Sung-keun, Bae Jong-ok and a star-making turn from Park Hae-il, the complex relationship drama is about a graduate student who starts working for the magazine editor-in-chief that his girlfriend dumped him for, while both men circle around a freelance photographer/veterinarian.
Calling it an "impressive debut," Variety compared Park to her mentor Hong Sang-soo, one of Korea's leading auteurs, regarding the film's incisive portrayal of human emotions and its ironic, subtly humorous but insightful dialogue, but described her filmmaking style as "less detached.
[6][7][8] Park's long-awaited second feature Paju premiered at the 14th Busan International Film Festival in 2009, where it won the NETPAC Award (jury members described it as a "fine example of passionate, high-quality filmmaking").
[9][10][11] A realistic portrait of modern Korean society through the eyes of a young woman who falls for her former democratic activist brother-in-law (played by Seo Woo and Lee Sun-kyun) while suspecting he may have had something to do with her sister's mysterious death, the film is set in the titular city of Paju, a grim, foggy locale which was once a longtime military garrison and is now a developing urban hub located close to the inter-Korean border; the city's uncomfortable gentrification social politics acts as backdrop to the characters' internal conflict.
"[13][14] Despite a lackluster box office, the film was well received by local and international critics; Screen International called it "intimate in scale but forcefully ambitious in its rich imagery and confident handling" and predicted "This should help to cement Park's reputation as one of Korea's most talented art-house directors," while Variety praised the film's handling of elements of melodrama, action and mystery, saying they "make it function like a Bergmanesque thriller.