Way Back Home (2013) on Netflix
Jeong-yeon and Jong-bae run an auto repair shop that has drained their savings. When a loan Jong-bae guaranteed goes unpaid, the debt falls on them, and she takes a delivery job abroad.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb7.5/101,623 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Jeong-yeon and Jong-bae are a married couple with a young daughter who have put their savings into an auto repair shop. A friend of Jong-bae's who could not repay his loans has died, and the debt Jong-bae had guaranteed falls to the couple. Their finances collapse and Jong-bae grows despondent. A seedy acquaintance offers Jeong-yeon work: carry a suitcase from Paris to Seoul for money. She believes the job is legal and agrees. Police stop her at Orly Airport and open her bag, finding more than thirty kilograms of cocaine. In Korea, Jong-bae appeals to officials and diplomats to bring his wife home.
Cast
- Seo Jin-wonas Sang-chul
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Way Back Home (2013)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film is based on Jang Mi-jeong, who was arrested at Orly Airport in France on 30 October 2004 for smuggling a suitcase containing 17 kilograms (37 pounds) of cocaine; she said she had no idea what was inside and had been told it held unpolished gemstones.
SPOILER
Jang was sent to a prison in French-administered Martinique after being found guilty, returned to Korea on 18 November 2006, and her friend was eventually arrested too and sentenced to serve 10 years in jail.- It was the first Korean film shot in the Caribbean and the first to feature actual guards and prisoners as supporting characters; filming ran three weeks at a women's prison in the Dominican Republic.
- Jang Mi-jeong and the filmmakers accused the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of "diplomatic negligence" and of being irresponsible about protecting Koreans abroad; ministry officials insisted the movie's story is not the whole truth.
