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Original Film Title: The Last Lie
Director’s Name: Boyeon Kim
Writer’s Name: Boyeon Kim
Producer: Boyeon Kim
Country of Origin: South Korea
Country of Filming: South Korea
Language: English
Runtime: 5 minutes
Film Description:
A terminally ill dementia patient requests memory manipulation to conceal her mistakes. Designed to reproduce only truth, the humanoid ‘Ian’ violates protocol and gifts her a ‘happy lie’. Ultimately, standing trial for ethical violations, Ian erases even his own memory, preserving that lie as the sole truth, and poses a question to the audience: Who is more unethical? The humanoid who violated regulations for human happiness, the human who distorts truth for their own happiness, or the powerful who collect memories to enjoy wealth and eternal life?
A memory-recording and playback specialist humanoid manipulates the elderly man’s memories of his own wrongdoing—a betrayal of humanity—into fantastical recollections at his earnest request. After the elderly man’s death, facing disposal for tampering, the humanoid testifies at the tribunal: ‘The old man wanted happiness, unaware of the truth that he killed his daughter’s parents.’ It reveals it had already synchronized its entire system with the man’s false memories. Through the most sublime crime committed by a machine, this sci-fi human drama questions whether the essence of humanity lies in ‘truth’ or in ‘benevolent deception’. Its twist ending reveals how powerless our beliefs in ‘free will’ and ‘choice’ can be within the design of a vast system, compelling us to reexamine what true humanity truly means.