Return to Seoul (2022)
94%RT Audience Score:
Awards & Nominations: NA
Sensitively attuned to its protagonist’s quest, Return to Seoul uses one woman’s story to explore universal truths about the human condition.
Return to Seoul is one of those movies that really gets you in the feels. It’s all about this one woman’s journey, but it speaks to something deeper in all of us. You know, that whole human condition thing. The filmmakers really nailed it with this one. It’s like they’re psychic or something. Anyway, if you’re looking for a movie that will make you laugh, cry, and maybe even question your existence, this is the one for you.
Production Company(ies)
Asian Stories, Foreign Language, Road Trip / Journey
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Seoul, Korea (South); Bucharest, Romania
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
2022
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:1h 59m
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Language(s):English, Korean, French
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Country of origin:Korea (South), Belgium, Cambodia, France, Germany, Qatar, Romania
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 2, 2022 Limited
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Oh Kwang-rok, Kim Sun-young, Yoann Zimmer, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Frédérique Benoît, Tena, directed by Davy Chou, written by Davy Chou, drama, R rating, Sony Pictures Classics, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Carlos Aguilar, Amy Nicholson, Chris Barsanti, David Ehrlich, Alissa Wilkinson, Jessica Kiang, Shikhar Verma, Soham Gadre, Nadine Whitney, Alex Billington, Felipe Rodríguez Torres, produced by Katia Khazak, Charlotte Vincent, South Korea, adoption, biological parents, identity, culture, language, family, self-discovery, human condition, French upbringing, search for roots, universal truths, transformation, in-betweenness, melancholy, catharsis, empathy, cinematic art
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
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
Kim Sun-young – self
Yoann Zimmer – self
Louis-Do de Lencquesaing – André
Frédérique Benoît – Tena
Director(s)
Davy Chou
Writer(s)
Davy Chou
Producer(s)
Katia Khazak, Charlotte Vincent
Film Festivals
Cannes, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (31) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (30) | Rotten (1)
Brilliantly muses on the impermanence of everything we know — about ourselves, about others and the world — and points to transformation as the only inevitable constant.
December 2, 2022
Carlos Aguilar
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
“Return to Seoul” is a startling and uneasy wonder, a film that feels like a beautiful sketch of a tornado headed directly toward your house.
December 1, 2022 | Rating: A
Amy Nicholson
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
Davy Chou’s Return to Seoul quickly blooms as a study in contrasts, sublimely juxtaposing character and culture.
September 9, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
Chris Barsanti
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Few movies have ever been more perfectly in tune with their protagonists than Davy Chou’s jagged, restless, and rivetingly unpredictable Return to Seoul.
September 8, 2022 | Rating: A-
David Ehrlich
indieWire
TOP CRITIC
A stone-cold stunner.
August 5, 2022
Alissa Wilkinson
Vox
TOP CRITIC
Strange, deep, changeable and wise…
May 27, 2022
Jessica Kiang
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Return to Seoul is a masterful character study of a life stuck in the in-betweens.
December 4, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
Shikhar Verma
High on Films
The melancholy of Freddie’s existence is a strong point in Seoul, which resists the temptation to deliver catharsis of tying the bow on Freddie’s relationship with her mother.
November 30, 2022 | Rating: B+
Soham Gadre
The Film Stage
… an intense drama that challenges the audience to empathise with a character who does not want sympathy.
November 14, 2022 | Rating: 18/20
Nadine Whitney
FILMINK (Australia)
The result is something we should celebrate and cherish as cinematic art that is cathartic and touching. A film that encourages us to be more open and empathetic even if we don’t have any connection to other people who might’ve been raised differently.
November 13, 2022 | Rating: 8/10
Alex Billington
FirstShowing.net
The film languishes due to an excessive expansion of footage that sometimes results in already developed concepts and ideas, causing its subtle and ambiguous ending to fail to cause the desired impact. [Full review in Spanish]
November 8, 2022
Felipe Rodríguez Torres
Caimán Cuadernos de Cine
It sounds very traditional and safe, but as this film rolls along it gathers force, and by the end of it, behold, it has kicked your heart’s ass.
November 4, 2022
Jason Shawhan
Nashville Scene…
Plot
After an impulsive travel decision to visit friends, Freddie, twenty-five, returns to South Korea for the first time, where she was born before being adopted and raised in France. Freddie suddenly finds herself embarking on an unexpected journey in a country she knows so little about, taking her life in new and unexpected directions.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Park Ji-Min plays the lead role of a French woman searching for her biological parents in Return to Seoul (2022).
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