Passer By (Yavuuliin Khun) is a 2017 film from Mongolia, directed by D. Bayarsaikhan.
A man named Sukhee arrives in Ulaanbaatar after three years away as a worker in South Korea. He soon discovers that his ex-wife has left the city for good, headed for the countryside, with their son. He then hitches a ride to his brother's yurt in the countryside, where it is revealed that their father has just died.
Sukhee's brother Sainaa still lives the life of a traditional nomadic Mongolian herder. After paying a visit to their father's grave, Sukhee helps his brother with baling hay and driving the family's herd of sheep. They visit the neighboring nomad family, consisting of elderly Jaajaa and his extremely good-looking daughter Ariunaa. Sainaa tells Sukhee that he's sweet on Ariunaa and hopes to make her his bride. But as it happens, romantic sparks start to fly between Sukhee and Ariunaa.
Tropes:
- Cannot Spit It Out: Myatav, another of Ariunaa's admirers, can't muster the courage to tell her. So his visits to Ariunaa usually consist of him hanging out around her mutely before going back home.
- The City vs. the Country: A theme. Jaajaa talks about how so many people (including his own son) have left the nomadic life for city work. Sainaa asks Sukhee what life in Korea was like, but says that he himself could never leave the nomadic life. When he was serving in the army Sainaa had recurring nightmares about the sheep getting away.
- Downer Beginning: The opening scenes reveal that Sukhee's ex-wife and child are gone, and his father has died of cancer.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Sainaa gets drunk after he sees Sukhee and Ariunaa embracing and realizes that he has been beaten out.
- Flashback
- A flashback shows Ariunaa telling Sukhee that she has put Sainaa in the friend zone.
- A comic flashback shows Myatav, another of Ariunaa's admirers, cringing as his brother and father tell him that he has to be more assertive and tell Ariunaa of his feelings.
- Just Friends: Sukhee winces on his brother's behalf when Ariunaa tells him that she thinks of Sainaa as a friend.
- Manly Tears: Sainaa weeps while telling Sukhee of their father's death.
- Posthumous Character: Tsedev, Sainaa and Sukhee's deceased father. A voiceover flashback has Tsedev telling Sukhee that he'll be fine and he doesn't want to go to a city doctor. Later Sainaa tells Sukhee that their father didn't seek treatment for his cancer because he knew he was going to die anyway and he didn't want to bankrupt the family with expensive treatment.
- The Reveal: Sukhee wasn't working in Korea, and he isn't going back there. He's actually in prison, and he was visiting home on a furlough. That's why he won't commit to Ariunaa.
- Sibling Triangle: Sainaa is in love with Ariunaa. Sukhee quickly develops feelings for her as well, which she returns, but Sukhee doesn't want to break his brother's heart.
- Title Drop:
- Sukhee tells Ariunaa that he can't commit to her because he's a passerby who will soon be leaving. (The end reveals why.)
- In a letter to Sukhee at the end Sainaa tells him that he isn't a passerby, he's on the same journey as they are.
- Voiceover Letter: A voiceover letter from Sainaa to Sukhee at the end reveals that Sainaa has found out the truth about Sukhee—Sukhee's in jail, not Korea—and that Ariunaa is waiting faithfully for Sukhee's return.
