Don’t mess with local folklore. That’s what I take from this film. Well, that and if you see a glowing egg at the bottom of an enchanted pool in a forbidden cave whose entrance is only visible during a full moon … for Buddha’s sake, don’t touch it! But that should go without saying, no?
Today’s film is a stirring reminder that romance can fail in ways you’ve never even considered. First, of course, you gotta be single to fail at romance, so let’s begin with 13-year-old loner Su-rin (Eun-soo Shin). She wasn’t exactly Miss Congeniality to start with, so when engineer dad uproots to island life, Su-rin is assured a rough transition. Perhaps this is why the girl proceeds without caution with regards to Seong-min (Lee Hyo-Je), the first kid giving her the time of day. “Hey, we’re gonna cross the ‘forbidden area’ tape and check out some demolition; wanna come along with me and my buds?” Well, gee, who wouldn’t take that invitation? It just makes sense.
Now I’m not exactly sure where the folklore part came in, but I’m quite sure the kids knew the rumor that there existed a cave near the demolition area which only appeared in a full moon AND nobody ever returned from there alive. So naturally, they discover the cave, enter it, and find a pool with a glowing egg at the bottom. I don’t do a whole lot of spelunking in my world … when you go exploring in forbidden caves, is it normal to find glowing eggs at the bottom of pools? Yes? No? How about retrieving them and taking them outside? Is that normal? And when the girl needs to go back for a hairpin and re-emerges to find nobody there, is that normal? I’m guessing no.
Ah, but Seong-min (now as Dong-won Gang) did return, twenty years older. Where have you been, young man? And now we have a slew of questions, huh? Like where did Seong-min lose twenty years of his life? And where are his buds? And … so … are we still, you know, boyfriend/girlfriend or what? I loved the question of dynamic here: when the kids were both 13, their relationship was appropriate. Now that he is 33 while 
she remains 13, it is decidedly not appropriate. But they still need one another. I’m not quite sure where I wanted the relationship to go; their budding romance cannot continue to bloom, can it? However, these two have to stay together if only for the sake of their own sanity.
Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned doesn’t cheat like most time travel films. Seong-min doesn’t automatically get 20 years back, nor does Su-rin magically find 20 years to match him. Whatever romance they might have had once doesn’t work any longer, nor probably ever will again. I found this film a bit melancholic and depressing, but not horrible. Can’t say that’s a great recommendation: “Dudes, check it out, slightly melancholic and depressing!” But hopeless romantics will appreciate the issues and the discovery of yet another way for love to fail, return, and fail again.
♪Frozen time
Clocks won’t move no matter what you unfurl
Frozen time
Throw out your appointment book into an eddy or swirl
Frozen time
One long call for alcohol gin, scotch, wine, whiskey and beer
Frozen time
You don’t have to go home doesn’t matter if you’re there or here♫
Not Rated, 130 Minutes
Director: Tae-hwa Eom
Writer: Tae-hwa Eom
Genre: The magic of disappointment
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Immortals
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The frustrated
♪ Parody Inspired by “Closing Time”
