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Anthony Shim said the camera's point of view is the father's... damn.

3

where do i start? this is one of those movies where if you wanted to hate it, you couldnt. it’s not even one of those movies where it’s like “story good execution bad” it’s literally story good and then execution elevated it. 

i cannot articulate how much i fucking appreciate representation so truly, thank you anthony shim for this wonderful and beautiful film. not only did the story capture me, the beauty and delicacy that you granted this movie made me feel like i truly was represented. while i personally knew my father for a bit, i didn’t know him that well and sometimes i would just cry when nothing was happening because i would just reflect on my life…

1

Score : 9.2/10 ✅

You keep saying sorry, but you’re not sorry. You not sorry even a little bit.

Easily one of the best movies of 2023 that I had the pleasure to watch and do you want to know what’s the frustrating part? How it’s casually slipping under everyone’s nose. Anthony Shim directed this movie with the highest form of the words: tenderness, authenticity, vulnerability, and self-discovery. It goes beyond the obvious and delivers an astonishing quiet, painful yet very rich Mother-son story.

Living an immigrant lifestyle has never been so tenderly yet tragically captured. The struggle to adjust yourself to the normalized Canadian lifestyle is shockingly outrageous when you realize how small encounters substitute the young Dong-Hyun to…

2

holy shit that breakfast scene was so painful to watch.

a story about loss, isolation, racism, family, growing up, identity, and so much more. all packed nicely in a simple setup between a mother and son. 

this film is equal parts beautiful, warm, and loving as it was full of pain, sadness, and heartbreak. never has such a soft, inviting film hit me with such an extreme weight. once the credits started rolling, i was immobilized in my chair from the extreme range of emotions i had just been subjected to. 

“mom, should we go back?”
 “we can’t.”

1

I sobbed 10 mins into the movie and then never stopped

Review by Reyjohn ★★★½ Liked

DO YOU KNOW TAEKWONDO 👊

2

A really beautiful ode to the sacrifices of immigrant mothers (and mothers in general) and the power of knowing your roots.

The wide-angle, ever-drifting camera immerses us in every location and finds the beauty in every moment. Like in a Malick film (obvious influence), there’s a sense that there is something grander to these characters’ lives than they might notice. There’s also a good tinge of 90s nostalgia in the look of it. It occasionally misses opportunities to strengthen the drama by insisting on not cutting for the duration of every scene, but the style overall works wonders. 

Some conflicts feel a tad melodramatic, it definitely wants to get you. But the film earned my tears in the end through…

6

I really don’t enjoy harping on Korean diaspora films, but when they regurgitate the same common representations of microaggressions seen throughout Asian American/Canadian films, they lose all meaning they once had. Riceboy Sleeps literally starts off with a lunchbox scene where David, our protagonist, gets bullied by the other kids for bringing gimbap. I honestly don’t know what the purpose of these scenes are anymore other than to gain sympathy from well-meaning white liberals.

Having grown up in the same suburbs the film takes place in, I felt a little nonplussed. The neighborhood I grew up in was so deeply Asian that even the non-Asians shopped at the Chinese and Korean grocery stores. There were all sorts of Asian restaurants…

6

I cried when he put his dad's jacket on

3

A very quiet little drama about the lives of a Korean single mother and her son as they move into a small town in Canada full of blatant racist folks and how they navigate life adjusting to this and other curves life will try their way, ultimately coming to with their own identity and destiny.

One of the greatest aspects of the movie is the way it utilizes subtext to convey so much of its narrative. In fact, when it decides to get a little too specific, like everything with the racist remarks, to be honest, this could have been more subtle, as it almost feels like its shoehorned into the story. The cinematography has this cold yet warmth…

1

Gutted, broken, weeping, and absolutely fucking starved for kimchi jjigae.

~ Reel Asian Film Festival Toronto ~

Review by jaxjax ★★★★ Liked

the story of the mother dropping pine needles for the son to find his path home will stay with me forever.