The Moon, one of Korea’s most highly-anticipated films of the year, is coming on August 16, and ahead of its release, Director Kim Yong-hwa has nothing but good words to say about his main cast.

Expressing satisfaction with the exceptional synergy among The Moon’s lead actors – Sul Kyung Gu, Doh Kyung-soo, and Kim Hee-ae – the director said, “They are all such skilled actors that even if they were acting separately, their emotions, tone, and manner were perfectly synchronized, which surprised me.”

In the thrilling and emotional space movie, Korea’s first manned mission to the moon ends in a tragic disaster when an explosion occurs on board. Seven years later, a second human spaceflight is launched successfully, but a strong solar wind causes it to malfunction.

One astronaut, Sun-woo (Doh), is left stranded in space. Facing another fatal catastrophe, the Naro Space Center turns to its former managing director, Dr. Kim (Sul), to help bring Sun-woo back home safely. In the film, each of the three main characters is in a setting that is different from the others.

According to the director, the audience can anticipate a chemistry that surpasses the distance of 384,000 kilometers between the Moon and the Earth.

In The Moon, each character is separated by the Korean Naro Space Center (Sul), the vastness of space (Doh), and NASA in the United States (Kim), requiring the actors to convey their performances through communication and phone conversations without physically being in the same space. The director added that the actors approached the filming with emotions at a heightened level, allowing the audience to feel the powerful energy that carries the drama without getting exhausted.

The Moon opens in Philippine cinemas on August 16, distributed by Columbia Pictures, the local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.