Water Lilies

Water Lilies (2026)



수련

5.0 2026 118 min —

Director: Lee Chan-ho

Cast: Lee Hyo-won, Choi Eun-seo, Lee Seung-yeon, Park In-cheol, Park Yeong-deok

Drama
Two small-town dreamers flee their rural pasts for the neon chaos of Seoul, each clutching a fragile vision of tomorrow. Hyo-won, burning to be an actress, throws herself into the tutelage of Su-yeon—a seasoned leading lady who insists that true performance means absorbing another person’s suffering until it becomes your own. Meanwhile, Eun-seo, having dropped out of school, takes a grimy kitchen job to keep Hyo-won’s costly lessons afloat. But as Su-yeon pushes Hyo-won to embody pain, Hyo-won fails to see the very real pain in Eun-seo—and Eun-seo, in turn, cannot see hers. What follows is a raw, aching standoff between ambition and empathy, where the hardest role to play is simply understanding the person beside you. In this city of loud dreams and quiet wounds, every answer only spawns a harder question.

More About This Film

Water Lilies is a South Korean drama about two young women, Hyo-won and Eun-seo, who run away to Seoul hoping to build independent lives. Hyo-won dreams of becoming an actress while Eun-seo takes temporary work to support them, and their friendship is tested by the different paths they begin to follow.

Lee Chan-ho directs a character-focused story about ambition, friendship and the difficulty of understanding another person's pain. Choe Eun-seo, Lee Seung-yeon, Hong Jeong-ho and Park Young-duk lead the cast, while the film's theatrical release gives its intimate story a measured pace.

  • Directed and produced by Lee Chan-ho.
  • Written by Lee Chan-ho and Park Jung-bum.
  • Runtime is approximately 118 minutes.
  • Released in South Korea on August 19, 2026.
  • Lee Chan-ho received the Best Director prize at the SMR13 International Independent Film Festival.

Where to Watch

Water Lilies has a South Korean theatrical release profile, with international streaming dependent on future licensing.