A very charming if strangely distant could-have-been romance. Greta Lee and Teo Too have tremendous chemistry which sells a lot of the quieter, awkward moments in the back half, but the scaffolding around them is too thin for a movie about the passage of time and choices not taken. We get glimpses of Nora and Hae Sung's childhood and their brief long distance reconnection, but it doesn't do enough to suggest a larger relationship. We believe these characters are destined to be and not be together because that's the sort of movie this is, but we don't get to inhabit that connection or the loss which accompanies it.
Occasionally tries to touch on immigration and US vs Korean values but it's probably for the best that it doesn't say much beyond a vague notion of a better life since the movie is already so steeped in middle class malaise (putting a self insert character in your first movie is bold). As is my constant wish with modern films, would kill for the soundtrack to be ripped out entirely so we can bake in the awkward silences made much less tangible by {melancholic-music.wav}. Skype hiccups were cute, more scenes about how our relationships are mediated through technology please.
I feel for this deeply insecure white boy, but I recoiled when he started whining in Korean.
No content warnings, have fun.