Lipstick
2019 · 12m · South Korea
Directed by Nuhash Humayun, Etsen Chen, Kawakibi Muttaqien, Wang Xixi
Genres: coming-of-age, fantasy, LGBTQ+
Tones: contemplative, surreal, tender
Bullied for wearing lipstick, high-schooler Joonwon arrives at an otherworldly crossroads; confronting his identity, he must decide which path to take, what to carry with him, and what to leave behind.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Here's the thing everyone's going to miss: this film could've been a PSA, but instead it commits to the surreal—the crossroads isn't metaphor, it's *architecture*—and refuses to let you settle into the comfortable coming-of-age beats you expect.
A formally precise meditation on threshold and choice, situated squarely in the lineage of Miyazaki and contemporary Korean cinema; the restraint in its visual language and the deliberation of each shot demonstrate genuine curatorial awareness.
Four directors, twelve minutes, and the entire film pivots on a single decision about what Joonwon carries forward—the specificity of that choice, and how the production design answers it, transforms what could be earnest into something quietly extraordinary on a micro-budget.