Film ‘Dog Days’ is about ‘relationship,’ ‘growth,’ says director

“Dog Days” is a heartwarming and lovely film drama targeting the high season of the upcoming Lunar New Year’s Day holiday in February.

It tells the story of lonely individuals finding unexpected bonds with each other through their shared experiences with companion dogs.

The characters include a successful architect for whom her companion dog is her only family, a young food delivery guy, two middle-aged single people, and a newly-wed couple with their adopted daughter.

Director Kim Deok-min said Wednesday he wanted to portray “relationship” and “growth” in the film.

“It’s not a film with a flagrant villain but a story about people who grow in the relationships they forge in their trivial everyday life,” he said during a press conference to promote the project in Seoul.

The movie centers on Minseo (Youn Yuh-jung), a world-renowned architect who lives alone and relies on food delivery services to avoid wasting food and investing time in human relationships.

Despite her gruff demeanor, her sole source of joy is spending time with her only family — her companion dog, Wanda. After Wanda goes missing, Min-seo seeks help from Jin-woo (Tang Jun-sang), a kind 20-something food delivery guy who frequently visits her home, in finding the dog.

“Dog Days” marks a directorial debut for Kim, who previously was the assistant director of “Hero” (2022) and “Keys to the Heart” (2017).

Youn, who previously worked with Kim for “Keys to the Hearts,” said her decision to join the new film was solely based on her strong bond with the director.

“It’s not that I made the choice because the director is great,” the 76-year-old actor joked. “We first met when he was an assistant director, and we shared a bond akin to comradeship because both of us were treated like dogs at the time. I then promised him that I would be in his directorial debut if he ever made one, and I kept my word.”

Yoo Hae-jin said he was captivated by the fun and warmth of the film.

“I really like dogs, and it’s a warm story without anything evil. I chose it because it’s fun, warm, and cute.”

He plays Min-sang, a neat salaried worker bothered by his veterinarian tenant Jin-young (Kim Seo-hyung), who turns his own commercial building into a field of dog excrement. After encountering Min-seo in the building and learning that she is a client of the vet clinic, however, he makes every effort to be amicable to Jin-young and her troublemaker dog to win the favor of the architect lady, who can offer crucial assistance to his company’s construction project.

Asked about their collaboration with dogs, Youn said all she could do was wait.

“At first, I wondered, ‘What if they don’t follow instructions? But the costume staff assured me not to worry, saying that the dogs understand and perform really well. Wanda was the only one who didn’t. So, we had to wait together,” she recalled.

Yoo, who previously played a puppy role in the Korean film “Jeon Woochi: The Taoist Wizard” (2009), agreed, joking, “Since the dog didn’t listen much, I thought I might as well play the dog myself.”

Fortunately, the dog that played his partner role had experience in acting, so things went smoothly, he added.

The movie opens in local theaters on Feb. 7.