'The Intern': Charming leads shine in feel-good Korean remake with little edge

The Korean remake of The Intern pairs Han So-hee and Choi Min-sik in a feel-good workplace story about a young fashion startup CEO and an elderly intern in Seoul. The film leans on generational contrast, office culture, and Korean details such as Namsan Tower and oranda. Directed by Kim Do-young, it is described as predictable but lifted by the leads’ chemistry and performances.

Sun-woo, played by Han So-hee, built her fashion startup Woo22 into a major industry player from scratch but struggles to balance work and her personal life.

Ki-ho, played by Choi Min-sik, is a retired office worker with a 37-year career who joins Woo22 as a three-month silver intern.

The film includes Korean-specific touches such as scenes featuring Namsan Tower and the traditional cookie oranda, which is Ki-ho’s favorite snack.

Published Sep 11, 2026 11:23 am KST

Choi Min-sik, left, and Han So-hee in the Korean remake of "The Intern" / Courtesy of Warner Brothers Korea and Anthology Studios

Seniority is something that has long been embedded in Korean society, with honorific words and unspoken rules existing for dealing with people who are older than you.

In fact, it was only a few years ago that companies made headlines for introducing policies on requiring employees — regardless of their ages and ranks — to address their colleagues with the universal suffix "nim."

Against this backdrop, the Korean remake of the Hollywood megahit "The Intern" (2015) captures the unlikely bond between a young woman entrepreneur and an elderly intern at her company.

Sun-woo (Han So-hee) is an ambitious executive who has built her fashion startup Woo22 into a major industry player from scratch but struggles to juggle her personal life with her job as the chief of a company that has grown big in a short time.

Her encounter with Ki-ho (Choi Min-sik) comes unexpectedly, as the retired office worker with a 37-year career behind him, coincidentally spots an online ad looking for a three-month "silver intern" at Woo22, a move actually aimed at cutting taxes.

Sun-woo politely addresses Ki-ho as "Kiho-nim," but as a person who claims she is "at odds with all elderly," she finds it difficult to assign work to an older employee. Eventually, Ki-ho is left sitting idly at his desk without any work to do unlike his younger intern colleagues.

His rather traditional workplace decorum — such as coming to office first in the morning as a newbie and not leaving the office until his boss Sun-woo does — worsens the situation, making him an uncomfortable presence in the Gen Z-populated office.

But as time passes, Ki-ho establishes himself as an irreplaceable presence, with his openness to embracing generational differences, his natural sense of warmth and his diligent attitude.

He becomes a shoulder to lean on for Sun-woo, as she navigates her strained relationship with her husband and growing pressure from investors to step to the sidelines and instead employ a professional executive.

The narrative proceeds with small episodes — which sometimes feel a bit random — and there are no hidden twists in the plot, making the film quite predictable.

Although details have been changed in comparison with the original work, those who have watched the 2015 film will not find the remake dramatically different, if not for the added Korean elements and the technological changes that have happened over the decade — think social media influencers and the digital divide that isolates the elderly.

Korean elements, such as scenes featuring landmarks of Seoul like the Namsan Tower and the traditional cookie "oranda" that appears as Ki-ho's favorite snack, meanwhile, give the film pleasant vibes.

The strength of the film actually comes from its leads, with Choi and Han delivering stellar chemistry and firmly anchoring the film.

Being one of the country's most renowned actors, Choi once again delivers a compassionate performance that creates an original and charming character. Han builds a complex character who is both fragile yet resilient, delivering one of her best performances.

The ensemble cast of the employees of Woo22, including Ryu Hye-young, Kim Jun-han and Park Ye-ni, also add rhythm to the film in their own distinctive ways.

While their performances are a definite delight to watch, the narrative unfortunately fails to make the most of it.

At a time when generational frictions have become common, the remake of "The Intern" seems like a workplace fairy tale, which may make it an uplifting watch for those seeking comfort.

The film is directed by Kim Do-young, who sharply captured the Korean society from a young woman's point of view in the novel-based film "Kim Ji-young: Born 1982" (2019) and helmed the Korean remake of the Chinese film "Us and Them" (2018).

It is set for release Wednesday.

韩版《实习生》由韩素希和崔岷植主演，讲述了一位年轻的时尚创业公司CEO和一位年长的实习生在首尔共度的一段温馨职场故事。影片着重刻画了代沟、办公室文化以及南山塔和兰寿等韩国标志性建筑。该片由金道英执导，虽然剧情略显老套，但两位主演的默契配合和精彩演绎为影片增色不少。

由韩素希饰演的善宇，白手起家将她的时尚创业公司 Woo22 打造成了行业巨头，但她却难以平衡工作和个人生活。

Ki-ho（崔岷植饰）是一位退休的上班族，拥有 37 年的从业经验，他以三个月的银发实习生身份加入 Woo22 公司。

这部电影融入了韩国特有的元素，例如南山塔的场景和传统的金盏花饼干（金盏花饼干是基浩最喜欢的零食）。

发布于2026年9月11日上午11:23（韩国标准时间）

崔岷植（左）和韩素希在韩版《实习生》中 / 图片由华纳兄弟韩国公司和Anthology Studios提供

长幼观念在韩国社会根深蒂固，存在着对待比自己年长者的敬语和不成文的规则。

事实上，就在几年前，一些公司因为出台政策要求员工（无论年龄和级别）都必须用通用后缀“nim”称呼同事而登上新闻头条。

在这种背景下，韩国翻拍的好莱坞超级大片《实习生》（2015）讲述了一位年轻女企业家和她公司一位年长实习生之间一段不太可能的友谊。

善宇（韩素希饰）是一位雄心勃勃的高管，她白手起家，将自己的时尚创业公司 Woo22 打造成了行业巨头，但她很难平衡个人生活和作为一家在短时间内迅速发展的公司首席执行官的工作。

她与基浩（崔岷植饰）的相遇是意料之外的，这位退休的上班族有着 37 年的职业生涯，偶然间在网上看到 Woo22 公司招聘三个月“银发实习生”的广告，而此举实际上是为了减税。

善宇礼貌地称呼基浩为“基浩大人”，但她自称“和所有老年人都合不来”，因此很难给年长的员工安排工作。最终，基浩像其他年轻的实习生同事一样，无所事事地坐在办公桌前。

他相当传统的职场礼仪——比如作为新人早上第一个到办公室，直到老板善宇离开办公室才离开——使情况变得更糟，让他在以 Z 世代为主的办公室里显得格格不入。

但随着时间的推移，基浩凭借其乐于接受代际差异、天生的热情和勤奋的态度，逐渐确立了自己不可替代的地位。

在孙宇努力应对与丈夫紧张的关系以及来自投资者的日益增长的压力（要求她退居幕后，转而聘用职业经理人）时，他成为了孙宇可以依靠的肩膀。

故事由一些小片段组成——有时感觉有点随机——而且剧情没有隐藏的转折，使得这部电影相当容易预测。

尽管与原作相比，细节有所改变，但看过 2015 年电影的人不会觉得翻拍版有太大的不同，除非加入韩国元素以及十年来发生的技术变化——想想社交媒体影响者和数字鸿沟如何孤立老年人。

影片中出现的韩国元素，例如首尔地标性建筑南山塔的场景，以及作为基浩最喜欢的零食的传统饼干“oranda”，都给影片带来了愉悦的氛围。

这部电影的优势实际上来自于两位主演，崔和韩展现了极佳的默契，牢牢地撑起了整部电影。

作为韩国最知名的演员之一，崔龙海再次奉献了充满温情的表演，塑造了一个独特而迷人的角色。韩孝周则塑造了一个既脆弱又坚韧的复杂角色，奉献了她最精彩的表演之一。

Woo22 的员工群像，包括柳慧英、金俊汉和朴艺妮，也以各自独特的方式为影片增添了节奏感。

虽然他们的表演确实赏心悦目，但可惜的是，剧情并没有充分利用这一点。

在代际摩擦日益普遍的今天，《实习生》的翻拍版就像一个职场童话，对于那些寻求慰藉的人来说，这或许会是一部令人振奋的影片。

该片由金道英执导，他曾执导过根据小说改编的电影《金智英：生于1982年》（2019），从一位年轻女性的视角深刻地描绘了韩国社会，并执导了中国电影《我们和他们》（2018）的韩国翻拍版。

预计将于周三上映。