After Produce 48, Lee Gaeun was almost immediately picked up by a new agency. Following the reveal of the vote manipulation victims, her agency released a statement to let the public and fans know that Gaeun was preparing for her debut into acting. However, her first choice of work has netizens flummoxed.
Lee Gaeun will be appearing in a hot-off-the-iron movie, Motelier. The title is a play on the word “hotelier”, usually used to refer to a someone who manages a hotel. A motel in South Korea however, has a less savory reputation as it is a cheaper option for people seeking to have a place to have sex in.
Motels in Korea go for as cheap as $30 for a few hours of rent or $50 and up for a night’s stay. They are often located in “motel-villages” where you can find many different ones on the same street. However, they’re not the shady, run-down rooms you expect. Motels can be modern and well-decorated as well. Lee Gaeun plays Da Hee, a motel manager. Motelier tells the tale of 5 different visitors to the motel, who come for different purposes.
Netizens are duly upset at her first movie due to the negative connotations surrounding motels as well as 19+ movies.
- “Why is she filming this sort of thing?”
- “I get that they will use the more racy scenes for promotional purposes but I really do question why she has to appear in this sort of movie when I see just the wordings itself…”
- “She should’ve been on the FNS broadcast yesterday instead…”
- “I hope Lee Gaeun hits it big”
- “I can see what their motives are so I’m annoyed… Gaeun-ah…”
- “Heol”
- “Gaeun, stay strong!”
Even if there are no exposure scenes on her end, the content and low budget itself has been criticized by netizens. The movie opened just today on 3 December 2020 on VOD. Catch the trailer below.
