Tag Archives: South Korean Film

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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Blesser (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): Trying to raise her autistic son

Posted on September 16, 2024 by kaist455

South Korean film “Blesser” vividly shows how life can be like a sheer hell for a woman who happens to have an autistic kid. While it will surely try to pull your heartstrings via one personal hardship after another unfolded … Continue reading →

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Concerning My Daughter (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): Facing her daughter’s girlfriend

Posted on September 15, 2024 by kaist455

South Korean independent film “Concerning My Daughter” tries two different things together. On one side, it is a typical queer drama about one mother trying to deal with her lesbian daughter who suddenly comes with her lover. On the other … Continue reading →

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