TIFF Review: “Long Long Night”

Long Long Night (Youm Kyu-Bock, 2026) 3½ out of 5 stars

South Korean director Youm Kyu-Bock’s debut feature, Long Long Night, is an adaptation of a 2021 prize-winning children’s book that was later turned into a stage musical. It tells the tale of the last white boulder rhinoceros on Earth, who protects—and journeys across the African continent with—a baby penguin. The film mixes gentle drama and humor with serious tragedy in a combination that reminds us of the toll of humans’ capacity for destruction. As such, it is very sad, even as it leavens the narrative with occasional bouts of comedy.

Norden, the rhino, is born and raised in an elephant sanctuary, curious about the world at large but happy with his long-trunked companions. When the time comes for him to choose to leave or not, he accepts the challenge, wanting to know what it feels like to run free. After wandering for a bit, he meets others like him, falls in love, and fathers a child.

This idyll will not last, for poachers covet the horns of his kind. Our worst fears are realized, and soon Norden’s family is taken from him and he put in a zoo. At least there he finds a friend—a fellow rhino—who offers companionship and advice on how to survive grief. He, too, unfortunately, will be the victim of poachers.

And then war erupts, bombs crashing around the zoo enclosure, forcing Norden to flee. On his way out, he encounters a male penguin with the egg he is caring for, and the two (with baby on the way) make their way to freedom. Eventually, that penguin will succumb to the difficulties of travel, leaving Norden an adoptive parent. It is this new being, we learn, who has been narrating the movie all along.

The press notes inform us that the animation is created using 3D Unreal Engine technology. For the most part, it looks great, though in wide shots the animals’ feet tend to blend into the landscapes as they run, befitting the name of the software, rather than a more natural rendering. But the waving of grasses in the wind and the texture of our main characters’ hides is impressive.

The sorrow within can be overwhelming, but might have proven more effective, cinematically speaking, with less sentimental overlay, particularly from the music. There is nothing wrong with the score, however, beyond its sometime heavy-handedness. Beyond these quibbles, I appreciate the message of the film. I suspect what the future holds is a long, long night for all of us on the planet.

Christopher Llewellyn Reed

Chris Reed is the editor of Film Festival Today. A member of both the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, Chris is, in addition, lead film critic at Hammer to Nail and the author of Film Editing: Theory and Practice.