How far is the distance between truth and fact? Even if there is only one fact, the truth can branch out in many directions. Director Lee Hu-bin’s Sapiens plays a puzzle game within that very gap. When third-generation chaebol heir and executive managing director of Sanghyeon Construction Oh Jong-hwa vanishes, the company’s legal team head, Seo Hee-jae (You Chea-myung), receives a video message demanding ransom for the kidnapping. Soon after, he confronts the sole kidnapping suspect, Na Do-han (Jung Sung-il), who claims to suffer from dissociative identity disorder and has no coherent memories. Harboring multiple personalities inside a single body, Na offers a different testimony each time he awakens. The multi-perspective statements reconstructed by a single suspect generate two distinct types of suspense: Who is the culprit behind the kidnapping? And who is Na Do-han? The process of piecing together these fragmented memories resembles the thrill of cinematic editing. You Chea-myung’s grounded, weighty performance anchors the kidnapping narrative, while Jung Sung-il’s multi-personality acting, bordering on a one-man monodrama, delivers a richly layered tension akin to a feat of sheer strength. It is a film where the journey toward the impending, shocking conclusion is even more compelling than the revelation itself.
Lee Hu-bin built on-site experience working in the directing department and as an assistant director, starting with the film Take Off in 2009, followed by Eungyo (2012), The Berlin File (2013), Master (2016), and Hit-and-Run Squad (2019). He served as the B-unit director for the Netflix series Black Knight (2023) and The Traumcode: Heroes on Call (2025), and co-directed the series No Way Out: The Roulette (2024), released via LG U+ and Disney+.
From Busan International Film Festival 2026, No. 31
