Lee returned after eight years of hiatus with a 2018 psychological drama mystery film "Burning", based on one of Haruki Murakami's seventeen short stories in "The Elephant Vanishes", "Barn Burning". The film premiered at the 71st Cannes Film Festival, winning the Fipresci International Critics' Prize. It became the highest-rated film in the history of Screen International’s Cannes jury grid. "Burning" was selected as the South Korean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards, and became the first Korean film to make it to the final nine-film shortlist of the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. "Burning" also won Best Foreign Language Film in Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Best Foreign Language Film in Toronto Film Critics Association, and the runner-up of National Board of Review's Top Five Foreign Language Film. It was included on RogerEbert.com's Great Movies. For this film, Lee won Best Director at 2018 Buil Film Awards and 2019 KOFRA Film Awards. In addition to international acclaims, the film also won 2018 Grand Bell Awards for Best Film and FIPRESCI Award at Korean Association of Film Critics Awards.