Two years later…

Broker: Rotten Tomatoes Review 

Broker was screened at the Lumière Theater, the main theater of the Cannes International Film Festival, on May 26, 2022. After the film finished, there was a standing ovation from the audience for 12 minutes.[41] On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 101 reviews are positive for the film, with an average rating of 7.60/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Broker skirts the edges of sentimentality, but is consistently grounded by Kore-eda Hirokazu's warm, tenderly melancholic approach."[42] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[43]

IU with co-stars at the Cannes red carpet. 

IU during the Cannes Premiere of Broker.

**

There was an uncommon silence in the Lee household. It was 3 in the afternoon and Jieun watched as Yerin devoured the cone of salted caramel ice cream she gave her earlier. 

“I’ll just get you water, okay?”

The three year old girl nodded, too busy with her ice cream to even speak.

“Did Inna pick Yerin up?” Mina asked when she went to the kitchen to get glasses and a pitcher of water.

“No, she’s still there..eating. Why?”

“Oh, ‘cause it’s either you’re chasing her around or singing along to some cartoon she likes…it’s never quiet when she’s here.” Mina ended with a chuckle.

“Yeah. Ice cream seems to do the trick. Sometimes.”

Mina shook her head, but Jieun can tell that her mother adores the little girl. Aside from taking walks with her dog, Sakura, babysitting Yerin seems to be one of her favorite things to do. It just gives her an instant dose of happy hormones. Even Dr. Yoo told her that she seemed to look well rested and happy these days, and she’s positive that those two are the main culprits. Well, aside from songwriting that has taken a new and special part of her heart - it’s her outlet and she’s now more comfortable in using her own experiences as muse for her songs. 

In 2021, after her demo of Daydream went viral, she released a full album of stripped down, guitar only tracks, called Daydream/Delusion. Critics called it her “mature era”, some calling it more poetic and abstract than her previous releases. All of her songs were inspired by her experiences, mostly from her journal entries in 2019 to 2020. This particular era in her career as a singer is memorable to her in the sense that she’s finally shook off the “little sister” image, and the public saw her as a woman who has gone through her own share of love, heartbreak and hope as she navigates through adulthood.

Radio Star interview in 2021:

“IU!! We are so glad to finally have you here. You’re one tough guest to book, hehe!” Kim Gura greeted, with a meaningful joke on the side.

Jieun came to the show without hesitation. Radio Star is known for making guests uncomfortable from an onslaught of direct, unapologetic questions, and it is for the same reason that she’s never guested there before. She’s past that; she discovered that no one can ever make her feel uncomfortable about herself or her own experiences than herself..it’s such a liberating thing to know.

“Annyeonghaseyo! I’m so glad to be here..I hope you’ve checked out my album.”

“Yahhhh….look at her, she's so quick to use this show for her promotions..” Youngmi laughingly remarked, before adding. “Also, may I add, something feels different about you, IU-ssi.We never worked together before but I’ve seen you around and you seemed like the type to keep to yourself..what changed?”

She smiled. “I guess I’ve matured, unnie. People’s opinions used to weigh down on me a lot. But now I don’t let that dictate how I see myself.”

The four MCs looked at her thoughtfully, probably stumped at how direct she was. 

“Wow. So I guess that gives us more room to ask what we want to ask, IU-ssi?” Gook-jin interjected, the glee painted all over his face.

She leaned forward and told them that she’ll try to answer their questions as best as she can.

“So, we’ve all had the privilege of attending Daydream / Delusion’s release party last week..and I can tell that this is a very personal album. But I think what everyone’s been wanting to know is…are these songs about your relationship with a certain…famous person?” Gook-jin asked.

“Hyung, just ask directly if it’s about Rain-ssi..” Gura teased.

Of course, they’re going to ask, she thought.

“I mean…yes and no. Some of the songs are about older experiences..some are about recent ones. I guess the trick is to buy the album and guess.” She flashed a charismatic smile which made Gook-jin facepalm himself.

“Yah, when you smile at us like that, we won’t be able to probe any further…” He replied. “I guess it’s safe to say there are some songs about him.”

“Oh! I also want to know if you’ve seen the new Ninja Assassin movie?” Youngmi asked, clapping her hands in excitement, expecting to hear what she’s going to say.

Gook-jin, Gura and Seyoon’s excitement were also plain to see.

“Yah, I thought this episode was supposed to be about me!” She playfully protested.

“Come on, everyone wants to know!!!” Youngmi pleaded.

She sighed. “Yes, I did…It was really good and I know the Korean public is so proud of him. I am too.”

Youngmi made a face that looked touched, putting one hand on top of her chest.

“That was so sweet to say. I was honestly rooting for you two, and I was one of those who felt sad when news of you two calling it quits broke out.” Youngmi added.

She couldn’t say anything to that, so she just gave a polite smile.