The Square: A Diplomat's Secret Love, a Vanished Officer, and Pyongyang's Shadows

The Square (2026) isn't your typical animated romance—it's a tense, melancholic drama about a forbidden love in Pyongyang that suddenly vanishes. Rated 6/10 and running a tight 74 minutes, this Korean animated film offers a unique blend of political intrigue and emotional depth, quietly earning a single award nomination on the festival circuit. If you’re looking for something that lingers, this might be it.

What's The Square (2026) About? A Forbidden Romance in a Restricted City

The film follows Isak Borg, the first secretary of the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang. His life is a carefully choreographed diplomatic performance, but he's secretly — and dangerously — dating Bok-joo, a local traffic officer. Their clandestine meetings are their only safe ground, until one day, a suspicious figure appears near their usual spot. Then Bok-joo disappears.

With his departure date from North Korea rapidly approaching, Borg begins a desperate search. This isn't a city designed for finding people, especially those who weren't meant to be seen in the first place. His suspicion falls on Lee Myeong-jun, his own interpreter. Lee's job is to translate words, but Borg starts to wonder if he's translating — or concealing — something far more sinister. It's less an action thriller and more a slow-burn psychological unraveling.

Why Animation Works Here: Pyongyang Through a Different Lens

What strikes me about The Square is how effectively its animation style serves the story. Live-action films set in North Korea often wrestle with audience preconceptions; the political backdrop can easily overshadow any human drama. Animation, though, creates a controlled distance.

The Pyongyang we see is recognizable yet filtered, allowing the emotional core — two people trying to preserve something real within a system built to prevent exactly that — to breathe without constant geopolitical noise. It’s a smart choice. Honestly, it's rare to see such nuanced storytelling in this medium.

The relationship between Borg and Bok-joo is rendered with immense restraint. There's an early scene where they share the same frame without speaking, and the sheer weight of what they can't say publicly, can't say safely, lands harder than any dialogue ever could. That's craft. Director Bo-sol Kim doesn't reach for easy sentiment. Lee Myeong-jun, the interpreter, remains genuinely ambiguous. Is he friend, foe, or just caught in his own impossible situation? That moral murkiness makes the film's second half genuinely uncomfortable. You don't know whose side he's on. You're not even sure he knows.

Production Insights: Korean Talent, Tribeca Festival Buzz, and Runtime

The Square was produced by the Korean Academy of Film Arts, an institution known for nurturing formally ambitious work from emerging Korean filmmakers. Director Bo-sol Kim brought the project to the 2025 Tribeca Festival, where it screened in the International Narrative Competition. That selection alone signals the film was taken seriously in international circles.

The film's 74-minute runtime is short for a feature, which can be commercially awkward for some distributors. But here, the length feels deliberate, not truncated. The Square doesn't overstay its welcome. Its official release designation is 2026 for streaming platforms, though its festival life began a year prior. This isn't a film that generates box-office figures in the traditional sense; it's a festival circuit traveler that finds its audience on streaming. It’s exactly the kind of title Movie OTT tracks across the global streaming landscape.

The film has a 6/10 rating on IMDb and a single award nomination. That’s a modest tally, but animated dramas like this, aimed at adult audiences, rarely accumulate nominations like mainstream genre films do—the categories often don't accommodate them cleanly. There's no MPAA rating or Metascore yet, but that might change as it reaches broader audiences.

Where to Stream The Square (2026) Right Now

Good news: The Square is currently available on major OTT services. For the most up-to-date platform breakdown, including regional availability (which can shift), check the Where-to-Watch widget at the top of this page. Streaming rights for films like this—a 74-minute animated drama with festival credentials—tend to rotate between platforms. Movie OTT aggregates streaming data in real time, so if the film has moved or become available in a new region since this article went live, the widget will reflect that. Watch it sooner rather than waiting to see where it settles!

Your Top Questions About The Square, Answered

Q: Where can I watch The Square (2026)?

The Square is streaming now on several major OTT platforms. The Where-to-Watch widget on movieott.com provides live availability by region, as streaming rights can change.

Q: Who directed The Square (2026)?

The film was directed by Bo-sol Kim and produced by the Korean Academy of Film Arts. It debuted at the 2025 Tribeca Festival before its 2026 wider streaming release.

Q: Is The Square (2026) related to Ruben Östlund's Palme d'Or film?

Not at all. Despite sharing a title, they're entirely different films. Östlund's The Square is a 2017 Swedish satirical drama. This 2026 film is a Korean animated romantic drama with a completely different story and creative team. Don't mix them up!

Q: How long is The Square (2026)?

The film runs 74 minutes. Short for a feature, yes, but its runtime feels purposeful. No padding here.

Q: Is The Square (2026) based on a true story?

Not directly. The premise—a Swedish diplomat in Pyongyang having a secret relationship with a North Korean woman—draws on the actual political and social conditions of diplomatic postings in North Korea. However, the characters and plot are fictional. The Korean Academy of Film Arts produced it as an original narrative.

Should You Watch The Square? My Take.

The Square isn't for viewers seeking rapid plot momentum or a neat, tidy resolution. What it offers instead is something far more nuanced: a film that leverages animation to explore emotional truths that live-action might have made too literal or sensationalized. If you appreciate Korean animation, enjoy diplomatic thrillers with a melancholic edge, or seek adult animated dramas (think recent festival circuit work), you'll likely find this genuinely worthwhile. Seventy-four minutes well spent. If you're browsing for something quiet, impactful, and different—this is it.