Minari (2020)
RT Audience Score: 87%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
116 wins & 247 nominations total
Led by arresting performances from Steven Yeun and Yeri Han, Minari offers an intimate and heart-wrenching portrait of family and assimilation in 1980s America.
Minari is a movie that will make you laugh, cry, and feel all the emotions in between. It’s a heartwarming story about family, dreams, and the struggles of immigration. The cinematography is stunning, capturing the beauty and vastness of the American landscape. And let’s not forget about young Alan Kim’s performance, which steals the show. This movie is a must-watch for anyone who loves a good story about human beings being awesome.
Production Company(ies)
Ealing Studios, Michael Balcon Productions,
Distributor
A24
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Oklahoma, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and a rude gesture
Year of Release
2021
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:1h 55m
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Language(s):Korean, English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Feb 12, 2021 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 26, 2021
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Minari, drama, family, assimilation, Korean-American, Arkansas, grandmother, resilience, Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Youn Yuh-jung, Will Patton, Alan S Kim, Noel Cho, directed by Lee Isaac Chung, written by Lee Isaac Chung, produced by Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Christina Oh, reviewed by Esther Zuckerman, Mark Kermode, Tara Brady, Clarisse Loughrey, Charlotte O’Sullivan, Kevin Maher, James Luxford, Brian Eggert, Wilson Kwong, Nick Boyd, Alex Behan, Victor Pineyro, PG-13, box office gross $700.0K, A24
Worldwide gross: $15,322,552
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $16,664,911
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,778
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 1,817,329
US/Canada gross: $3,110,580
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $3,383,088
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,914
US/Canada opening weekend: $193,460
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $210,408
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,651
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Han Ye-ri – Monica
Youn Yuh-jung – Soonja
Will Patton – Paul
Alan S. Kim – David
Noel Cho – Anne
Director(s)
Lee Isaac Chung
Writer(s)
Lee Isaac Chung
Producer(s)
Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Christina Oh
Film Festivals
Sundance
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
116 wins & 247 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees, Oscar Winners
All Critics (314) | Top Critics (70) | Fresh (307) | Rotten (7)
Chung and his cinematographer Lachlan Milne photograph the landscape beautifully, and you see how both Jacob and David can be entranced by its vastness, even for all the trouble it causes.
July 29, 2021
Esther Zuckerman
Thrillist
TOP CRITIC
What makes this more than just another formulaic feelgood film is the grit with which Chung evokes the hardscrabble lives of his characters, balancing the dreamier elements of the drama with a naturalism that keeps it rooted in reality.
April 4, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Mark Kermode
Observer (UK)
TOP CRITIC
A rare film about assimilation that can be equally cherished by both poles of the American political landscape. And everybody in between.
April 2, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Tara Brady
Irish Times
TOP CRITIC
Minari is a story of the American Dream. But Chung’s brilliance is in how he adds depth and complexity to those foundational ideas – it’s in the spaces in between that we find love, loss, hope, and regret.
April 2, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Clarisse Loughrey
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Though two last-act sequences dovetail a little too neatly, the word that covers this cinematic experience is “raw”.
April 2, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Charlotte O’Sullivan
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
It briefly drags before the closing act, but that’s hardly a complaint.
April 2, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Kevin Maher
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
There’s so much going on beneath the surface of Minari, but those paying attention will find a story of immigration that is fascinating, as well as a tribute to family that will feel universal.
March 2, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
James Luxford
City AM
Minari is the kind of film that sends the viewer into their own childhood memories.
February 17, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
Minari is a film that uses cultural context and nuance to explore complex family dynamics and relationships, which at its core, equates to universal emotions that anyone can relate to.
February 12, 2022
Wilson Kwong
easternKicks.com
Exploring heavy subject matter, the picture shows us a microcosm of the American Dream in vivid detail and creates an indelible family portrait.
December 28, 2021
Nick Boyd
Battle Royale With Cheese
Funny, sad, thoughtful, endearing, it’s one of those movies that gets everything right. Yes, it’s an astutely observed insight to the immigrant experience in 1980s USA, but it’s also just a great movie about human beings being awesome.
October 25, 2021
Alex Behan
Stuff.co.nz
Young Alan Kim’s performance is essential, as it serves as a rear window to a marriage filled with uncertainty and dissatisfaction. A story about the challenges of immigrating and creating a family while still wanting success. [Full review in Spanish]
September 30, 2021 | Rating: 8/10
Victor Pineyro
Seventh Art Studio…
Plot
Yearning to own a small patch of land and be more than a chicken sexer, the ambitious paterfamilias, Jacob Yi, relocates his Korean-American family: sceptical wife, Monica, and their children, David and Anne, from California to 1980s rural Arkansas, to start afresh and capture the elusive American Dream. However, new beginnings are always challenging, and to find out what is best for the family, let alone start a 50-acre farm to grow and sell Korean fruits and vegetables, is easier said than done. But, amid sincere promises, cultural unease, fleeting hopes, and the ever-present threat of financial disaster, Jacob is convinced that he has found their own slice of Eden in the rich, dark soil of Arkansas. Can grandma Soonja’s humble but resilient minari help the Yi family figure out their place in the world?
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Youn Yuh-jung’s performance as the foul-mouthed but loving grandmother is a standout in Minari.
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