

“Welcome to Kuyalnyk Sanatorium. Ukraine's favourite frontline holiday resort.”
Despite a war raging close by, mud treatments and electroshock therapies continue at Kuyalnik Sanatorium, an enormous 1970s brutalist building on the shores of Odesa, where a small group search for love, healing, and happiness.
Director
Status
Released
Original Language
UK

In 1992, Min-young, a member of the university protest music group Wildflower Sound, joins forces with the ideological study circle Flag to support workers at Samhyung Industries, who are striking after going six months without pay. On the day of the strike, riot police launch a violent crackdown. Workers and student musicians alike are beaten and dragged away. In response, fellow students form a resistance line to rescue them. The standoff escalates into a massive clash between citizens and police—broadcast live on national news. Compelled by something greater, Min-young steps onto the stage and cries out: "We are not rioters!" A roar of unified voices rises and echoes across the nation. “Arise, you who live—The day is coming!”

The Gardener, the Buddhist & the Spy is a gripping story about power struggle, failure, and the delicate balance between good and bad.