DISORDER
- Scott Millard
- Jan 14
- 3 min read
Updated: May 12
Nick sells drugs for a Russian gang based in South Korea. But when his merchandise goes missing, he's given an ultimatum: find a mysterious woman being protected by the Korean mafia, or else. Threatened by shadowy adversaries and haunted by strange dreams of the woman he's looking for, every clue Nick finds leads to disturbing revelations about his own past.
Synopsis:
Nick sells drugs for a Russian gang based in South Korea. But when his merchandise goes missing, he's given an ultimatum: find a mysterious woman being protected by the Korean mafia, or else. Threatened by shadowy adversaries and haunted by strange dreams of the woman he's looking for, every clue Nick finds leads to disturbing revelations about his own past.
Shot in areas frequented by actual Russian gangsters, with a diverse crew and cast of mostly first-time actors, this feature debut from Canadian director Tim Paugh weaves together influences such as David Lynch, David Cronenberg, and Nicolas Winding Refn's Pusher trilogy into a gritty, neon-drenched nightmare.




Director Bio:
Tim Paugh was born and raised in rural Canada. He learned to make films by watching movies, reading books, and playing around with his parents' VHS camera as a child. After making a few experimental shorts, Tim moved to Busan, South Korea where he became active in the independent filmmaking community. He worked to foster collaboration between foreign and Korean filmmakers, hosting film screenings, and programming a local film festival. During his time in Korea he has honed his craft by making music videos, commercials, short films, and working as a part-time cinematographer. His films have screened at various film festivals including the Busan International Short Film Festival. Disorder is his debut feature film, which he wrote, directed, and edited.
Filmography:
2024 - Disorder (Feature): writer, director, editor
2022 - One 2 Zero (Feature): cinematographer
2021 - The Hard Parts (Short): writer, director, cinematographer, editor
2021 - The Thinking Machine (Short): director, cinematographer, editor
2020 - The Captain (Short): director, cinematographer, editor
2019 - Riff Raff (Music Video): writer, director, editor
2018 - Twilight Zone (Music Video): writer, director, cinematographer, editor
Director’s Statement:
My name is Tim Paugh, and I’m a Canadian who has been making films in South Korea for the past few years. Disorder is my debut feature film, which I wrote, directed, and edited.
The film was shot almost entirely in Busan, South Korea, with a diverse and international cast and crew, financed by myself and a small production company. Many of the performers you see in the film (particularly the Russian actors) are first time actors that we found after a long audition process.
I like to think that the film tells two stories at once. On the narrative level, it’s the story of a man trying to find a missing woman on behalf of the Russian mob, where every clue he finds leads to disturbing revelations about his own past. But at the same time it’s also the story of Busan, and its own (sometimes dark) history. One of the main locations of the film, Chinatown, is frequented by actual Russian gangsters (it was also featured in the movie Old Boy). The dream scenes were all shot in an abandoned leper colony, which has since been destroyed.
Disorder is the work of a very dedicated cast and crew who were able to overcome language barriers, and time and budget restraints to create a film that I hope you will find both unique and affecting.




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