Burning (2021) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Hae-mi disappears after a distressing phone call with Jong-su. She never returns to her apartment, and her whereabouts remain unknown throughout the film. Jong-su suspects Ben is responsible, though Ben denies any knowledge of her location. The film leaves her fate deliberately ambiguous, never confirming whether Ben harmed her or if she simply chose to vanish as she once expressed wanting to do.

Foreshadowing: Earlier at dinner, Hae-mi tells Jongsu and Ben that she wants to vanish from it all, hinting at her potential disappearance.

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Boil disappears while Hae-mi is in Africa. Jong-su never sees the cat during his visits to her apartment, though he assumes it's there based on evidence like litter in the litter box. Later, Jong-su finds a cat at Ben's apartment that strongly resembles Boil, leading him to suspect Ben may have taken the cat. Whether it is actually Boil or a different cat remains unclear.

Foreshadowing: Hae-mi asks Jong-su to care for Boil while she travels, establishing the cat as important to her life.

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Jong-su kills Ben in a fit of rage and paranoia after discovering the pink watch he gave Hae-mi among Ben's belongings, along with other women's jewelry. He also believes Ben may have harmed Hae-mi and is consumed by jealousy, feelings of betrayal, and the mounting psychological pressure from weeks of suspicion and obsession. The stabbing represents his complete emotional breakdown.

Foreshadowing: Ben's confession about burning greenhouses and his possession of Hae-mi's watch plant the seeds of Jong-su's violent conclusion.

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Ben reveals that every couple of months he seeks out abandoned greenhouses in the countryside and sets them on fire, describing it as his hobby. This disturbing confession unsettles both Jong-su and Hae-mi. The greenhouses surrounding Jong-su's family farm take on ominous significance. Whether this hobby is metaphorical, represents a darker truth about Ben's nature, or connects to Hae-mi's disappearance is never confirmed.

Foreshadowing: The many greenhouses visible around Jong-su's home in Paju become ominous after this revelation.

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Jong-su finds the pink watch he gave Hae-mi among Ben's possessions, along with other women's jewelry and a new cat that resembles Boil. This discovery convinces Jong-su that Ben has been collecting women and their belongings, likely confirming his suspicions that Ben harmed Hae-mi. The watch serves as damning evidence of some connection between Ben and Hae-mi's disappearance.

Foreshadowing: Jong-su gifted Hae-mi the pink watch after their chance reunion in Seoul.

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During dinner with Jong-su and Ben, Hae-mi expresses a desire to disappear or escape from her current life entirely. This statement reflects her deep unhappiness and sense of being trapped. When she actually goes missing later, it becomes ambiguous whether she was murdered or chose to vanish as she wished. Her words foreshadow her uncertain fate.

Foreshadowing: This moment at dinner plantseeds doubt about whether her disappearance is voluntary or sinister.

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Jong-su's suspicion builds gradually. First, he is unsettled by Ben's creepy revelation about burning greenhouses. Then, after Hae-mi disappears following a distressing phone call, Jong-su investigates her apartment and finds it empty. His paranoia intensifies when Ben claims not to know where Hae-mi is, and his jealousy grows as he questions what relationship existed between them. The discovery of the watch and cat at Ben's apartment finally triggers his violent breakdown.

Foreshadowing: Ben's greenhouse confession early in their meeting plants the initial seed of distrust.

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Ben and Hae-mi met during her traumatic experience at Nairobi Airport during a bombing. She introduces him to Jong-su upon returning to Korea. Their relationship appears casual but mysterious. Ben is wealthy, charming, and secretive. Hae-mi seems drawn to him yet also expresses her desire to escape her life. Whether Ben was genuinely involved with Hae-mi, was using her, or worse, remains deliberately unclear throughout the film.

Foreshadowing: Hae-mi met Ben during the Nairobi Airport crisis, a circumstance that already feels unusual.

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Hae-mi returns from Africa visibly changed. She went through a traumatic experience being stranded at Nairobi Airport after a bombing, which clearly affected her psychologically. She now expresses wanting to vanish and introduces a mysterious new man into her life. Her transformation suggests the experience in Africa fundamentally altered her outlook and emotional state.

Foreshadowing: The traumatic Nairobi Airport incident where she met Ben marks her transformation.

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After stabbing Ben to death, Jong-su sets both Ben's body and the car ablaze in an attempt to destroy all evidence of the murder. This act represents his desperate attempt to cover his tracks and erase the violent confrontation from existence. The burning symbolizes his destruction of the tangled relationships and his final break from the life he once knew.

Foreshadowing: This violent act follows directly from the stabbing and represents Jong-su's complete descent into darkness.

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