No Breathing

No Breathing is a South Korean drama about two young swimmers whose rivalry extends well beyond the pool. Jo Won-il was once a prodigy in the sport but walked away from it; now he wants to return to competition. Jung Woo-sang is a national-team swimmer who has always chased first place, and he and Won-il, who are very different in temperament, end up competing for the same goals. The two also have feelings for Jung-eun, a childhood friend who dreams of a career in music. What begins as a sporting contest becomes a story about young people working out who they are and what they want from one another, with the friendships and attachments between them under pressure.

The film was directed by Cho Yong-sun, who also wrote the screenplay with Yoo Young-a, and it was produced by Park Chang-hyun. Seo In-guk plays Won-il and Lee Jong-suk plays Woo-sang, with Kwon Yu-ri as Jung-eun. Park Chul-min, Park Jung-chul and Yoon Kyun-sang round out the cast of twenty-four credited performers. Released in late October 2013, the film runs 118 minutes and took in about 3 million dollars worldwide at the box office.

Audience response has been moderate rather than enthusiastic. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.4 out of 10 from roughly 1,100 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.6 out of 10 from a much smaller group of 43 ratings. Both figures point to a film that found a modest audience and drew mixed but not hostile reactions from those who watched it.