Critic Reviews

• Tom Keogh, Seattle Times

  Acutely perceptive and mournful character study.

• Anthony Lane, New Yorker

  Hong has a grace and stealth of his own, and his scenes tend to tilt in directions that few of us would dare to predict.

• Duane Byrge, Hollywood Reporter

  Hong Sangsoo's character development and, similarly, relationship progression never develop beyond the slam-bang aspects of romance.

• V.A. Musetto, New York Post

  If [viewers] stick around, however, they might find themselves becoming fans of the cerebral South Korean auteur.

• Derek Elley, Variety

  Basically, it's an elegant jeu, played and constructed with an almost Gallic lightness heightened by Jeong Yong-jin's bursts of music, all bouncy piano and pizzicato.

• Mary Jacobi, Village Voice

  Hong may experiment with story flow and import, but he's nothing if not focused on Korean twentysomethings and their untethered life path of power-boozing, disconnection, and romantic failure.

• Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

  Hong sticks to lengthy, static shots, but still somehow manages a heartbreaking grace.

• Kam Williams, Upstage Magazine

  Brace yourself for several extended, sexually-explicit scenes which would qualify as soft porn. Rebels in heat looking for release, not for love or a relationship.

• Kam Williams, NewsBlaze

  Brace yourself for several extended, sexually-explicit scenes which would qualify as soft porn. Rebels in heat looking for release, not for love or a relationship.

• Eric Monder, Film Journal International

  Isn't terrible. but it doesn't linger well in the memory.

• Chris Barsanti, Filmcritic.com

  has an elliptical rhythm to it that's extremely reminiscent of French romantic films

• Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

  ... elliptical portrait of bored, womanizing men in contemporary South Korea crippled by a lack of ambition and simple human compassion.

• Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

  Hong's linear fifth feature film is much more than what meets the eye.

• Leo Goldsmith, Not Coming to a Theater Near You

  Provocative, even disturbing in its resistance to categorization, demanding from its viewers a response without the reassurance of psychology or narration.

Read all 14 critic reviews