[Anchor]

Two buzzworthy films, both of which have swept Best Actor awards at various film festivals around the world, are set to go head-to-head in Korean theaters.

We look at which performance will receive more praise from domestic movie fans. Reporter Lee Joo-hyoung has the story.

[Reporter]

Two men looking in different directions.

A poster featuring those two actors at the forefront.

The halo of 26 Best Actor awards worldwide and 102 total awards globally.

Two films starring actors who both won Best Actor at this year's Golden Globes and competed for the same award at the Academy Awards are now clashing in the Korean box office.

"Marty Supreme," starring Timothée Chalamet, famous for the film "Dune," and "Wasp Network," starring Wagner Moura, well-known for the "Narcos" series, are being released just one week apart.

Timothée Chalamet plays a young table tennis player in the United States during the post-1950s era who dreams of the American Dream and resorts to lying to achieve success.

[Timothée Chalamet/Actor: I hope the audience understands that the protagonist is someone who is constantly chasing a dream. I wanted to portray him as an avatar pursuing big dreams in a bleak era.]

Wagner Moura plays a former professor who faces assassination threats while resisting corruption during the Brazilian military dictatorship in the 1970s.

[Look at who you are dealing with, you punk. You communist. I am not.]

Known for playing tough roles such as police officers or drug lords, he transforms into an intellectual professor in "Wasp Network." Meanwhile, Timothée Chalamet, who has mainly played bright and positive characters, realistically portrays a pathetic and unlikable young man in "Marty Supreme."

Although both films are period pieces dealing with events from decades ago, they carry significant implications for modern society, where people feel helpless in the face of runaway ambition, and where corruption and discrimination have become subtly normalized.

It is a great opportunity to simultaneously watch films that are recognized for top-tier quality not only in the performances of their award-winning leads but also in direction, cinematography, editing, and production design.

(Video Editing: Choi Jin-hwa, Design: Hwang Se-yeon)