Kyu-dong Min has previously directed the 2005 romantic-comedy “My Lovely Week” and the 1999 horror film “Memento Mori”. But more on that later …

Jin-hyuk (Ji-hun Ju) is a rich eligible bachelor. One day he decides to open a pastry shop. Although he doesn’t like sweets himself, he tells his mother “there’s always women walking into pastry shops.” He then interviews Seon-woo Min (Jae-wook Kim) for the position of pastry chef. Although Seon-woo has an expansive resume, there’s also a downside to all his experience. Wherever he works, Seon-woo’s “Demonic Charm” comes out and whether the man is gay or straight, inevitably that man falls madly in love with Seon-woo. It also happens that the only man ever to rebuff Seon-woo, is the man currently interviewing him for the pastry chef position. Jin-hyuk & Seon-woo were former high school classmates and at one point Jin-hyuk rebuffed Seon-woo’s advances and even threw a cake in his face. Fortunately for Jin-hyuk, Seon-woo doesn’t recognize Jin-hyuk and glady accepts the position.

After opening for business, “Antique” quickly picks up its third employee Ki-beom Yang (Ah-in Yu). Ki-beom is a former championship boxer, but retired from the sport because of a detached retina. After entering Antique to make a delivery, he tastes some of Seon-woo’s pastries and instantly falls for his culinary talents. He begs to work as Seon-woo’s assistant and eventually gets hired to do so. A short time later, Ki-beom notices a mysterious man in a car always taking pictures of the shop. When he confronts the person he finds out that the man Su-yeong (Ji-ho Choi) is a bodyguard for Jin-hyuk. It turns out, Jin-hyuk went missing for 2 months as a child & since then his overly protective parents have had Su-yeong follow Jin-hyuk as his safety net. Su-yeong then gets hired as Antique’s waiter.

Although Seon-woo is an openly gay character, “Antique” can appeal just as easily to the straight crowd as the gay crowd. The film does a wonderful job integrating the gay aspects of the film into the larger picture. While, the pastry chef is gay, the focus of the film is usually on the “Antique” bakery shop and its every day occurrences. The camaraderie built by these four men works in the same manner as a well done sports film. By the end of film you can’t help rooting for the characters, their pastry shop, & the sweets that they have for sale.

When the thriller aspects of the film come about, the film could have easily fallen into cheeseball territory, but the film works this angle as well as possible. Thanks should go to the film’s director, Kyu-dong Min. Kyu-dong is no stranger to oddball genre combinations, as “Memento Mori” told a heartbreaking lesbian teen love story wrapped in the guise of a horror film. Likely due to his experience making “Memento Mori,” Kyu-doing is able to work the thriller aspects into the film’s storyline just as seemlessly as he does the gay aspects.

Visually, the film is bright and colorful. Numerous scenes even go into a song and dance routine ala “Memories of Matsuko” or “Dasepo Naughty Girls.” Editing is extremely fast, providing ultra quick transitions which makes subtitles harder to read than most other films. Acting is top notch by the two male leads Jin-hun Ju & Jae-wook Kim. More screentime could have been given to Ah-in Yu and Ji-ho Choi’s “Su-yeong Nam” could have been fleshed out better.