Written and directed by Yohahn Ko, ‘Earboy’ is a deeply moving short film that captures the fragile, unspoken tensions between a mother (Cat Kim) and her young son (Aidyn James Ahn). What begins as a mundane, intimate moment – an at-home haircut gone slightly awry – spirals into an agonizing ordeal, exposing the raw nerve endings of their changing lives.
From the opening, Ko establishes a sense of quiet unease. The boy fidgets, lost in his own world, while his mother – exhausted but determined – tries to tame his unruly hair. It’s a deceptively simple setup, yet beneath it simmers a profound emotional shift. The father is absent. The household dynamic is different now. And though the son doesn’t fully grasp the weight of this change, his mother does.
Then, in an instant, the fragile domesticity shatters. A sharp snip. A gasp. Blood. The boy’s ear is clipped, and with it, the fragile balance between mother and son is thrown into chaos. Panic sets in. His cries ring through the apartment and outside the house.
Police Officers Craig (Ronan Arthur) and Lorraine (Ray Waltz) bring an uneasy authority to the narrative. Craig is confrontational, quick to cast judgment, while Lorraine hesitates, sensing something more human beneath the chaos. But the damage is done. The mother, already on the edge, is now cast as a suspect.
Ko’s direction is bold and unflinching, refusing to offer easy sentimentality. Alex Ajayi’s cinematography captures the tension with intimate framing, letting every tremor in Cat Kim’s performance breathe on screen. Ahn, as the son, is heartbreakingly naïve – oblivious to the irreversible shift his cries have set in motion.
Earboy is simply flawless – poignant, cinematic, and beautifully devastating.
