# A Girl at My Door (도희야)
**A Girl at My Door** (도희야, romanized *Doheeya*) is a 2014 South Korean drama film directed and written by July Jung in her feature debut, starring [Bae Doona](https://www.edgepedia.org/bae-doona) as a police chief transferred to a seaside village who takes an abused teenager into her protection[1](https://asianwiki.com/A_Girl_At_My_Door). The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival and was produced by the director [Lee Chang-dong](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-chang-dong)[2](https://www.koreanfilm.co.uk/films/a-girl-at-my-door-2/). Critics received it as a restrained psychological drama that treats child abuse, alcoholism, homophobia, and rural prejudice without converting them into conventional thriller beats[3](https://cinemaanthology.com/korean/films/a-girl-at-my-door/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title / director | 도희야 (*Doheeya*), directed and written by July Jung, her debut feature[1](https://asianwiki.com/A_Girl_At_My_Door) |
| Premiere and release | World premiere May 19, 2014 at Cannes (Un Certain Regard); South Korean release May 22, 2014[1](https://asianwiki.com/A_Girl_At_My_Door) |
| Runtime and country | 119 minutes, South Korea, Korean language[1](https://asianwiki.com/A_Girl_At_My_Door) |
| Principal cast | Bae Doona (Young-nam), Kim Sae-ron (Do-hee), Song Sae-byeok (Yong-ha)[4](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?cdKind=014001&firstMenuID=04&indexChar=A&mode=INDEX_PEOPLE_VIEW&movieCd=20134586&newsRownum=3&pageIndex=9&pageRowSize=10&peopleCd=10030016&photoRownum=7&photoType=people&refCd=10030016&strMenuId=040501) |
| Producers | Lee Chang-dong and Lee Joon-dong; production companies Pinehouse Film and Now Film[5](https://www.screendaily.com/a-girl-at-my-door/5072172.article) |
| Critical reception | 93% Tomatometer from 27 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes; 74% audience Popcornmeter[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dohee_ya) |
| South Korean box office | 310 screens, 106,786 admissions, $608,088 total gross[4](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?cdKind=014001&firstMenuID=04&indexChar=A&mode=INDEX_PEOPLE_VIEW&movieCd=20134586&newsRownum=3&pageIndex=9&pageRowSize=10&peopleCd=10030016&photoRownum=7&photoType=people&refCd=10030016&strMenuId=040501) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Young-nam (Bae Doona), a top graduate of the police academy who had risen to upper management in Seoul, is transferred to a small seaside village after censure for misconduct; the nature of the transgression is never fully explained, though it is connected to her private life[4](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?cdKind=014001&firstMenuID=04&indexChar=A&mode=INDEX_PEOPLE_VIEW&movieCd=20134586&newsRownum=3&pageIndex=9&pageRowSize=10&peopleCd=10030016&photoRownum=7&photoType=people&refCd=10030016&strMenuId=040501) • [7](https://theartsdesk.com/film/girl-my-door). There she encounters Do-hee ([Kim Sae-ron](https://www.edgepedia.org/kim-sae-ron)), a 14-year-old girl bullied by schoolmates and beaten by her hard-drinking stepfather Yong-ha (Song Sae-byeok) and grandmother[7](https://theartsdesk.com/film/girl-my-door) • [8](https://open.tving.com/en/featured-contents/a-girl-at-my-door/). When Young-nam intervenes in a beating, Do-hee experiences someone defending her for the first time and becomes devoted to her[4](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?cdKind=014001&firstMenuID=04&indexChar=A&mode=INDEX_PEOPLE_VIEW&movieCd=20134586&newsRownum=3&pageIndex=9&pageRowSize=10&peopleCd=10030016&photoRownum=7&photoType=people&refCd=10030016&strMenuId=040501).
After Do-hee's grandmother falls into the sea and dies, making Yong-ha more violent, Young-nam invites the girl to stay with her[4](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?cdKind=014001&firstMenuID=04&indexChar=A&mode=INDEX_PEOPLE_VIEW&movieCd=20134586&newsRownum=3&pageIndex=9&pageRowSize=10&peopleCd=10030016&photoRownum=7&photoType=people&refCd=10030016&strMenuId=040501). The relationship unravels when Yong-ha discovers that Young-nam is a lesbian, and Do-hee makes accusations of sexual abuse that put Young-nam under investigation by her own force[5](https://www.screendaily.com/a-girl-at-my-door/5072172.article). The film keeps ambiguous what actually happened between the two, and its ending is deliberately unresolved[9](https://fourthreefilm.com/2014/08/a-girl-at-my-door/).
## Production
July Jung developed the film after studying filmmaking under Lee Chang-dong, who became one of its producers alongside [Lee Joon](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-joon)-dong through the Pinehouse filmmaking network[3](https://cinemaanthology.com/korean/films/a-girl-at-my-door/). During the screenplay phase Jung applied to CJ's industrial-academic project funds without success; Lee Chang-dong decided to produce after reading a screenplay he described as "a small story, but with great implications"[10](https://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/People/view?articleId=123466). Bae Doona agreed to star three hours after reading the screenplay while filming in the United Kingdom[10](https://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/People/view?articleId=123466).
According to news coverage at the time, the film's subject matter, among it Young-nam's lesbian past, made raising funds hard, and backing from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) was crucial in getting it finished[3](https://cinemaanthology.com/korean/films/a-girl-at-my-door/). Filming began on September 8, 2013 in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province[1](https://asianwiki.com/A_Girl_At_My_Door). Kim Hyun-seok, who had also shot Lee Chang-dong's *Poetry*, served as cinematographer, with music by Jang Young-gyu[5](https://www.screendaily.com/a-girl-at-my-door/5072172.article) • [11](https://www.meniscuszine.com/articles/2015072435621/july-jungs-a-girl-at-my-door-2015-aaiff-review/).
## Themes and style
The film begins as a rescue story and progressively complicates it. Young-nam's queer identity makes her vulnerable to rumor and institutional punishment, and Do-hee's knowledge of that vulnerability shifts the balance between protector and protected[3](https://cinemaanthology.com/korean/films/a-girl-at-my-door/). Around the household, the village's labor economy, including migrant workers controlled by Yong-ha, extends the story beyond a private drama into overlapping systems of abuse: patriarchal authority, homophobia, child violence, police hierarchy, and economic exploitation[3](https://cinemaanthology.com/korean/films/a-girl-at-my-door/).
Reviewers consistently noted the film's restraint. Jung keeps the drama understated as pressure builds, with Bae Doona communicating emotion through stillness and Kim Sae-ron playing Do-hee as frightened, watchful, manipulative, and intelligent in the same scenes, so that sympathy never eliminates uncertainty[12](https://www.timeout.com/movies/a-girl-at-my-door) • [3](https://cinemaanthology.com/korean/films/a-girl-at-my-door/). Jung herself said the film was fiction, not based on specific events, though many international viewers asked whether it was[10](https://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/People/view?articleId=123466).
## Reception and awards
At Cannes the film received a standing ovation and was nominated for the Un Certain Regard Award, the Golden Camera, and the [Queer Palm](https://www.edgepedia.org/queer-palm)[10](https://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/People/view?articleId=123466) • [13](https://cinegraph.org/movies/a-girl-at-my-door-2014). It went on to win several international prizes, including Best First Film for Jung at the Stockholm International Film Festival in November 2014[14](https://player.bfi.org.uk/rentals/film/watch-a-girl-at-my-door-2014-online) • [10](https://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/People/view?articleId=123466). Kim Sae-ron won Best New Actress at the 2014 Blue Dragon Film Awards[15](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/movie-awards.php?movie-id=808206), and Bae Doona won Best Actress at the 2015 Asian Film Awards[11](https://www.meniscuszine.com/articles/2015072435621/july-jungs-a-girl-at-my-door-2015-aaiff-review/). On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 93% Tomatometer from 27 professional reviews against a 74% audience score[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dohee_ya).
The film has since been treated as a significant modern Korean debut for joining social realism to psychological ambiguity, and for anticipating broader visibility for Korean women directors in the following decade[3](https://cinemaanthology.com/korean/films/a-girl-at-my-door/). It was screened in retrospective programs including the Seoul International Women's Film Festival and the London Korean Film Festival[4](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?cdKind=014001&firstMenuID=04&indexChar=A&mode=INDEX_PEOPLE_VIEW&movieCd=20134586&newsRownum=3&pageIndex=9&pageRowSize=10&peopleCd=10030016&photoRownum=7&photoType=people&refCd=10030016&strMenuId=040501).
## References
1. [A Girl At My Door, AsianWiki](https://asianwiki.com/A_Girl_At_My_Door)
2. [A Girl At My Door, London Korean Film Festival](https://www.koreanfilm.co.uk/films/a-girl-at-my-door-2/)
3. [A Girl at My Door, Cinema Anthology](https://cinemaanthology.com/korean/films/a-girl-at-my-door/)
4. [A Girl at My Door (2014), Korean Film Council (KOFIC)](https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?cdKind=014001&firstMenuID=04&indexChar=A&mode=INDEX_PEOPLE_VIEW&movieCd=20134586&newsRownum=3&pageIndex=9&pageRowSize=10&peopleCd=10030016&photoRownum=7&photoType=people&refCd=10030016&strMenuId=040501)
5. [A Girl At My Door review, Screen Daily (Mark Adams, 19 May 2014)](https://www.screendaily.com/a-girl-at-my-door/5072172.article)
6. [A Girl at My Door, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dohee_ya)
7. [A Girl at My Door review, The Arts Desk (Kieron Tyler, 16 September 2015)](https://theartsdesk.com/film/girl-my-door)
8. [A Girl At My Door, CJ ENM / TVing](https://open.tving.com/en/featured-contents/a-girl-at-my-door/)
9. [A Girl at My Door review, 4:3 (Matilda Surtees, 19 August 2014)](https://fourthreefilm.com/2014/08/a-girl-at-my-door/)
10. [Director Jung July recognized for her debut film, Korea.net (4 December 2014)](https://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/People/view?articleId=123466)
11. [July Jung's "A Girl at My Door" – 2015 AAIFF Review, Meniscus Magazine](https://www.meniscuszine.com/articles/2015072435621/july-jungs-a-girl-at-my-door-2015-aaiff-review/)
12. [A Girl At My Door review, Time Out (Helen O'Hara, 15 September 2015)](https://www.timeout.com/movies/a-girl-at-my-door)
13. [A Girl at My Door, Cinegraph](https://cinegraph.org/movies/a-girl-at-my-door-2014)
14. [A Girl at My Door, BFI Player](https://player.bfi.org.uk/rentals/film/watch-a-girl-at-my-door-2014-online)
15. [All the awards and nominations of A Girl at My Door, FilmAffinity](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/movie-awards.php?movie-id=808206)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2010 to 2014 › Psychological and social drama films*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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