''Seoul Searching'' is a 2016 South Korean comedy-drama film written and directed by Benson Lee and starring

Justin Chon Justin Jitae Chon (born May 29, 1981) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has directed three films, ''Gook'' (2017), '' Ms. Purple'' (2019), & '' Blue Bayou'' (2021). He is also known for portraying Eric Yorkie in '' The Twilight Saga'' fil ...

Jessika Van Jessika Van is an American actress, singer-songwriter, pianist and dancer. Van is most known for playing "Becca," the ringleader of the Asians or the Asian mafia in Season 2 and Season 3 of MTV's '' Awkward.'' She also played Kim, a Hong Kong Po ...

Cha In-Pyo Cha In-pyo (; born October 14, 1967) is a South Korean actor and director. Early life Cha graduated from Rutgers University in the U.S. with a degree in economics. His father ran a shipping company and had intended for Cha to take over the f ...

and

Teo Yoo Kim Chi Hun (born April 11, 1981), known professionally as Teo Yoo is a South Korean actor. He is known for his role as Viktor Tsoi in the musical film ''Leto''. Life Teo Yoo was born as Kim Tschi Hun in Cologne, Germany. His father was a mi ...

Premise

Seoul, 1986. A raucous gaggle of Korean teenagers spill out of the Gimpo airport and onto buses that transport them to a location just outside the city. There, these high schoolers sent from all over the world—the U.S., Mexico, London, and Hamburg—are participating in a government-sponsored summer program to help them connect with their heritage. With a summer of partying ahead of them, they're on a crash course to bring shame to their families, their ancestors, and their hosts—but with any luck, they might just figure out how to make friends, fall in love, and absorb some of their roots along the way. (Sundance Institute)

Cast

as Sid Park *

as Grace Park *

Cha In-pyo Cha In-pyo (; born October 14, 1967) is a South Korean actor and director. Early life Cha graduated from Rutgers University in the U.S. with a degree in economics. His father ran a shipping company and had intended for Cha to take over the f ...

as Mr. Kim *

as Klaus Kim *Esteban Ahn as Sergio Kim *Rosalina Leigh as Kris Schultz *Albert Kong as Mike Song *

Han Hee-jun Han Hee-jun (Hangul: 한희준; April 20, 1989) is a Korean-American singer from Flushing, Queens, New York, who finished in ninth place on the eleventh season of ''American Idol.'' He signed with Polaris Entertainment in 2012. In 2013, he fin ...

as Chow *

Crystal Kay is a Japanese singer, songwriter, actress and radio host. After releasing her first single, " Eternal Memories" (1999), Crystal Kay gained fame for her third studio album, ''Almost Seventeen'' (2002), which debuted at number 2 on the Japanese ...

as Jamie *Nekhebet Kum Juch as Jackie Im *Uatchet Jin Juch as Judy Im *

Sue Son Son Sue-Kyung (Hangul: ), better known by her stage name Sue Son, is a South Korean classical and crossover violinist, raised in the United Kingdom and based in Seoul. She studied at London's Royal College of Music and debuted in South Korea wi ...

as Sara Han *Gwi-hwa Choi as Mr. Chae *

Kang Byul Kang Byul (Korean: 강별, born August 9, 1990) is a South Korean actress. She made her acting debut in 2008 and was cast in her first leading role in the television drama '' Miss Mamma Mia'' (2015). Personal life Her maternal uncle is actor ...

as Sue-jin Song * Kim Wan-sun as Kim Wan-sun Wannabe * Park Hyung-soo as Gangster

Release

The film made its worldwide premiere at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

in January 2015. The film was then released in theaters in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

on June 17, 2016. It was also released in theaters in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

on June 24, 2016. The film was also shown at the Regal Medlock Crossing 18 in

Johns Creek, Georgia Johns Creek is a city in Fulton County, Georgia, United States. According to the 2020 census, the population was 82,453. The city is a northeastern suburb of Atlanta. History In the early 19th century, the Johns Creek area was dotted with t ...

from August 5 to August 11 of 2016.

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

acquired the streaming rights of the movie in Winter 2016 and released it December 2017 worldwide. It has been dubbed and/or subtitled in over 15 languages.

Reception

Since its release in December 2017 on Netflix, the film has topped over 30 the "Best of Netflix" lists and in 2021 alone it topped the "Best of Netflix" lists in over 10 publications including: PopSugar, OprahDaily.com

Oprah Magazine ''O, The Oprah Magazine'', also known simply as ''O'', is an American monthly magazine founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications. Overview It was first published on April 19, 2000. , its average paid circulation wa ...

Town & Country (magazine) ''Town & Country'', formerly the ''Home Journal'' and ''The National Press'', is a monthly American lifestyle magazine. It is the oldest continually published general interest magazine in the United States. History Early history The magazine ...

Seventeen (American magazine) ''Seventeen'' is an American bimonthly teen magazine based in New York City. The magazine's reader-base is 13-to-19-year-old females and is published by New York City-based Hearst Magazines. It debuted in New York City in August 1944. It began ...

Teen Vogue ''Teen Vogue'' is an American online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to '' Vogue'', targeted at teenagers. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and celebrities. Since 2015, following ...

The film has a 75% rating on

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. Nick Allen of

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...

awarded the film three stars. Stephanie Merry of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' gave it two stars out of four. Timothy Tau of

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

graded the film an A−. The New York Times gave it a "NYT Critics Pick" in 2016.

Justin Chang Justin Choigee Chang (born January 3, 1983) is an American film critic and columnist for the ''Los Angeles Times''. He previously worked for '' Variety''. Early life Justin Chang graduated from the University of Southern California in 2004. Cha ...

of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' gave the film a positive review and wrote, "A unique portrait of the Korean immigrant experience distinguishes writer-director Benson Lee's messy but endearing '80s-set comedy." Josh Terry of ''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

'' gave it a negative review and wrote, "In better hands, ''Seoul Searching'' might have been a nice balance of ’80s nostalgia and sincere coming of age. Unfortunately, what we have here is a missed opportunity." Justin Lowe of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' gave it a positive review and wrote, "Lee’s most accessible film yet looks poised to capitalize on enduring 80s nostalgia and a refreshingly appealing premise that could see the film crossing over from niche bookings to much broader appeal." The movie was the first mainstream feature to highlight the Korean adoptee experience and diaspora in America. The film became a flagship movie for Korean adoptees which director Benson Lee said he included as they were part of the diaspora Korean adoptees experienced in their respective countries.

References

External links

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, seoul_searching 2010s English-language films 2010s Korean-language films 2010s German-language films Films about Korean Americans English-language South Korean films American comedy-drama films Chinese comedy-drama films South Korean comedy-drama films 2015 comedy-drama films 2015 films Bowery Hills Entertainment films 2010s American films 2010s South Korean films