Drifting (2026): Cast, Story and Release Details

Prepared by Movies Dock Editorial

Drifting follows Hye-ja, a Seoul insurance call-center worker trying to improve her living situation. When she travels to Busan to ask her mother for financial help and receives no answer at the door, an ordinary request becomes the starting point for a difficult road movie.

Drifting is a 2026 South Korean drama centered on Hye-ja, a woman working to move beyond the limitations of her current home and job. Her goal is straightforward: leave a semi-basement flat in Seoul for a studio apartment.

The film takes that practical ambition to Busan, where Hye-ja hopes to borrow money from her mother. When repeated attempts to reach her mother fail, the trip begins to take on a more uncertain direction. Jung Ki-hyuk writes and directs the film, which runs for 2 hours and 3 minutes.

Drifting movie details

Story without spoilers

Hye-ja works at an insurance company call center in Seoul while saving toward a move from a semi-basement apartment to a studio. Her rough dialect and fiery personality create difficulties in the workplace, adding pressure to an already demanding situation.

Needing money for the move, she heads to Busan to visit her mother. The visit does not go as planned: despite knocking repeatedly, Hye-ja receives no response. From this unresolved situation, Drifting develops as a road movie about a woman confronting circumstances that interrupt her carefully defined plans.

What to expect

As a drama with road-movie elements, Drifting is built around a character whose immediate concerns are financial, domestic and personal. The supplied premise points to an intimate story rather than an action-driven one, with the movement from Seoul to Busan providing its central change of setting.

The film’s focus is Hye-ja’s predicament: workplace friction, the desire for a more secure home and the unanswered question surrounding her mother. Viewers can expect a Korean-language character-centered drama shaped by an uncertain trip and a grounded everyday conflict.

Cast and creative team

Jung Eun-ji plays Hye-ja, the film’s central character. The cast also includes Kim Ju-an as Hee-sook, Lee Hye as Hyun-sun, Ahn Do-kyung as Jin-sook and Woo Joo-young as Woo-bin.

Jung Ki-hyuk is both the director and writer of Drifting.

• Jung Eun-ji as Hye-ja
• Kim Ju-an as Hee-sook
• Lee Hye as Hyun-sun
• Ahn Do-kyung as Jin-sook
• Woo Joo-young as Woo-bin

Release and production context

Drifting is a South Korean production in Korean, with production credited to whonyouarts. It is listed as released on September 9, 2026, and has a runtime of 2 hours and 3 minutes. The film is classified as a drama and carries the road-movie keyword.

Production companies: whonyouarts

Movies Dock view

Drifting presents a focused premise about work, housing and a family visit that does not unfold as expected. With Hye-ja’s trip to Busan at the center and Jung Ki-hyuk handling both writing and direction, the film offers a compact, character-led drama grounded in an unsettled personal situation.

Film data:
TMDB