Yeon Sang-ho tackles AI, human abyss in grief-driven 'Paradise Lost'

Director Yeon Sang-ho, best known for his intense genre storytelling, returns with the thought-provoking psychological thriller "Paradise Lost," exploring the complexities of motherhood and human identity in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). "In the era of AI, I believe being human means living in a world of deep thought," Yeon said after the premiere of the movie in Seoul Monday. "AI cannot think deeply, but humans can. I believe humans have a deep, unknown inner world, like a black hole in space. 'Paradise Lost' tries to explore that." The director added his new movie was inspired by a short three-page story written by his mother. The film follows So-young (Kim Hyun-joo), a grieving mother who lost her son Sun-woo nine years earlier, along with 12 other children, on a missing school bus. Seven days after the incident, several children were found dead in a mining town warehouse basement. The search was then called off, leaving her in endless pain. To cope with the loss, So-young interacts with an AI-generated version of her child daily through an augmented reality program called "