Detective Chung-su takes a secret mission from a dying president of a big company. The businessman wants to see his first love before he dies.The only information the detective has is that her name is Kkotnim and she now lives on an island called Tongbaek, off one of the country's southern ports. He rides on a private boat to the island with an anonymous passenger, dreaming of the big bucks he will get when he completes his mission.But the boat is wrecked in a fierce storm, and Chung-su and the passenger find themselves lying on the shore of a strange island. In the struggle to escape from the island, Chung-su meets up with five grandmothers who will not let him or the other men escape. During his captivity, he investigates if one of the grandmothers is indeed the love interest. Will he find out and escape from the island alive?
Acting
Five grandmothers steal every scene with zero mercy.
Direction
Lee Sang-hoon commits fully to the ridiculous premise.
Writing
Absurdist hostage logic that somehow keeps working.
Director
Lee Sang-hoon
Lee Moon-sik
Na Chung-su
Kim Ji-young
Woman from Yeongkwang
Yeo Un-gye
Chairwoman
Kim Eul-dong
Woman from Yeosu
Kim Hyung-ja
Woman from Masan
Kil Hae-yeon
Woman from Jeju
Lee Kyu-han
Jeon Ki-young
Lee Cheol-min
Bodyguard
Nam Ji-hyun
Girl in the past
Kim Young-chan
Boy in the past
Joo Hyun
Park Dal-goo
Kim Soo-mi
Woman from Jinan
Cho Hyoung-ki
Captain
Lee Yoo-jin
Vice-chairwoman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Lee Moon-sik was already a comedy veteran from hits like The Big Scene; this was his weirdo passion project phase.
The film satirizes Korea's obsession with first love narratives—here weaponized by grandmas instead of K-drama leads. The island setting mirrors actual remote Korean communities where elderly women vastly outnumber men.
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