Private grief and public mourning are examined in "Birthday," a deeply moving drama about a fractured family attempting to get on with life following the death of their son in the 2014 Sewol ferry tragedy.

Birthday is precisely the kind of warts-and-all examination of human nature that defines Lee's career, and is composed entirely of the difficult moments that are often glossed over for more palatable, unchallenging observations.

Birthday promises to be a tearjerker, but does not live up to it.

Birthday is about coping mechanisms, some destructive, and some pointless, and some counterproductive but others do manage to work.