Tag Archives: South Korean Film

Peafowl (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): She just wants to be herself…

Posted on November 4, 2024 by kaist455

South Korean film “Peafowl” is a flawed but interesting queer family melodrama mainly distinguished by the strong lead performance at its center. Even when the movie unfortunately stumbles in one way or another due to its blatant plot contrivance, it … Continue reading →

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Uprising (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): A bitter and brutal period drama

Posted on October 28, 2024 by kaist455

South Korean Netflix film “Uprising”, which was released a few weeks ago, is a bitter and brutal period drama about an intense class conflict in the background of a big historical war in Korea during the 16th century. While it … Continue reading →

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Saving a Dragonfly (2022) ☆☆☆(3/4): Painfully personal

Posted on October 20, 2024 by kaist455

South Korean documentary film “Saving a Dragonfly” is painfully personal at times. It initially looks like as an innocuous personal project recording what was the most important period in the director and her classmates’ last high school year, but it … Continue reading →

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Paper Man (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): A life on cardboard

Posted on October 19, 2024 by kaist455

South Korean independent film “Paper Man” works best when it humorously focuses on its pathetically desperate hero’s efforts for restarting his life. While we are sometimes amused by his comic struggles along the story, we come to care about this … Continue reading →

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No Heaven, But Love (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): A modest high school queer romance film

Posted on October 19, 2024 by kaist455

I could not help but get distracted more than once as watching South Korean independent film “No Heaven, But Love”. While it mostly works as a modest but intimate high school queer romance film, the movie is rather uneven on … Continue reading →

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Debt (2023) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A little comedy about debt

Posted on October 19, 2024 by kaist455

When I saw South Korean independent comedy film “Debt” early in this morning, two audiences sitting behind me, who were incidentally the only other audiences in the screening besides me, frequently chuckled from the beginning to the end. I wish … Continue reading →

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A Normal Family (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): They need to talk about their kids

Posted on October 19, 2024 by kaist455

South Korean film “A Normal Family” is a darkly tense drama about the two different couples facing a serious moral issue involved with their respective kids. As they become conflicted more over their shared matter, the movie coldly exposes more … Continue reading →

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Dirty Money (2024) ☆☆(2/4): A clumsy genre product

Posted on October 19, 2024 by kaist455

I do not mind watching movies about unlikable characters, but South Korean thriller film “Dirty Money” did not engage me at all. The movie is not only utterly contrived but also quite mediocre in terms of story and characters, and … Continue reading →

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Love in the Big City (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): Two Roommates in the city

Posted on October 4, 2024 by kaist455

South Korean film “Love in the Big City” looks and feels typical at first. Yes, the unlikely friendship between a gay man and a heterosexual woman is not exactly an unconventional story material these days, but the movie has its … Continue reading →

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By the Stream (2024) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A minor misfire from Hong Sang-soo

Posted on September 22, 2024 by kaist455

South Korean independent film “By the Stream”, which is another film from Hong Sang-soo during this year after “A Traveler’s Needs” (2023), sadly did not engage me much as frequently feeling rather thin and vague in terms of story and … Continue reading →

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