Synopsis

It was decades ago when The Buggles sang “Video Killed the Radio Star.” These days, being able to sing well alone is not enough to become a singer. Despite her heavenly voice, Hanna can never become more than a ghost vocalist for the beautiful pop sensation Ammy, because she weighs over 90kg and is considered unattractive. To make ends meet, she even works part-time taking phone-sex calls from lonely men at night. She secretly harbors a crush on Han Sang-jun, a music producer who has acknowledged her talent and treated her kindly. But after being publicly humiliated in front of him at his birthday party, Hanna makes a life-changing decision: to undergo full-body plastic surgery from her phone-sex client, who happens to be a cosmetic surgeon—offering her recorded call tapes in exchange. Post-surgery, Hanna becomes a slim beauty and begins receiving a completely different kind of attention from men who don’t recognize her former self. She debuts as a singer with her own—albeit surgically altered—face, under a new stage name. Rather than directly criticizing society’s obsession with appearance, the film offers gentle satire. It embraces the desire to be beautiful through plastic surgery and presents a modern-day Cinderella story with humor and charm. The soundtrack, including songs like “Maria” (performed by actress Kim Ah-jung) and “Stand by Me,” brings vibrant energy to the film and adds to its stylish appeal. (Lim Bum)

Director

Kim Yong-hwa

Kim Yong-hwa majored in Film Directing at Chung-Ang University. In 2000, his graduation short film Zaban Mackerel won the Excellence Award at the 1st Korea Visual Arts Festival and was invited to various prestigious international film festivals. He made his feature debut with the 2003 comedy-drama Oh! Brothers, which earned him broad popular support. In 2006, he rose to commercial prominence with the hit film 200 Pounds Beauty.