TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

briggs-24507 I've seen a lot of bad Korean movies but this one is very very good. Has all the elements of great movie making directing and cast members hits the spot .I hope to make another one or a sequel

benm-41751 Seoul Searching uses a trusty America formula for crude and silly comedies: a bunch of misfits are forced into a summer school where they start off misbehaving and end up sorting out their deep-seeded issues (especially parental resentment). But it takes place on a backdrop of Korean history, as the country transformed from a battle-bruised state bent on industriousness into a generation that's more welcoming to Western culture. It's filled with characters who have distinctly Korean complexes, takingon stereotypical "Breakfast Club" roles with the fun twist of being Korean kids who picked up their personalities as the ungrateful children of immigrants.The movie is silly, over-the-top, full of tropes, and shoehorns drama in with little subtlety. Yet it manages to be very funny and full of heart. It'll be especially meaningful to anyone from a Korean background or who knows something about Korean culture.

Lauren-Magenta Based on true events, Seoul Searching appears to be a film full of 80s tropes and wild teens, but becomes much more through the telling of writer and director, Benson Lee's, own experiences at a camp in Seoul. With a serious introduction that is quickly forgotten as the characters are introduced, the movie seems like simple drama surrounding teens' antics, but there's more than the bad boy and Madonna-crazed girl. As Seoul Searching continues, we learn who the main characters are, and more of their own story through well divided scenes and cuts between character focuses.Seoul Searching isn't plot-based in the least, and there isn't a major climax in the movie, just little hills of chaos and emotion every now and then. The focus is on the characters, the people, featured in the film and their own stories. The characters are what make the film; they have interesting characteristics and distinct personalities. Each person plays a specific role; some have emotional benefit (Klaus), others have humorous benefit (Sergio), and the main character, Sid, brings a lot of both. Seoul Searching is simple and straightforward in an enjoyable way; it's a film about people being people, one of the most interesting things to witness.The movie has a certain feeling to it, almost as though you're there. It also has quite a fast pace, there is always something happening, which likely makes viewers pay closer attention, and therefore experience that sensation of witnessing the events in the film first hand. The music adds to that feeling, and sets the mood of that age, with 80s classics in the background. The filmmakers achieved the aura of the 80s very well, although at times some of the language used is crude and might be shocking to some, simply because of the changes that have occurred in society over the years. Seoul Searching, despite the teenage antics, was also quite serious at times, and displayed the struggles of foreign-raised Korean teens. The story of a boy who doesn't understand his father, an adopted girl, a boy dealing with unadjusted parents, a racist army prat, and more. Through the movie, hardships are revealed, and viewers realize that there's more to the initial characters, that there's a reason for the characters' actions and attitude. Overall, Seoul Searching is a good movie, that I feel is underrated by some. It's a fresh teenage comedy that explores into the less than happy parts of life. It's part of growing up, with just a few more completely "unboring" people.

Maria A I just saw the World Premiere of this film tonight, and loved it. The entire audience did a 'wave' for the director before the movie, and stood up for his well-deserved standing ovation at the end. Seoul Searching depicts teens from around the world exploring their relationship to their Korean cultural identity - at a summer camp in Seoul, Korea. (Cue mass quantities of alcohol.) Like any teen film, it explores relationships with parents, peers, and authorities, but what makes this one so enjoyable is that it is so specific and spot-on in illuminating the Korean cultural experience. As a hapa Korean and Italian woman, it's rare that I see a film so dynamic in its representation of complex cultural issues. The movie was hilarious, yet, particularly in one un-subtitled scene, still able to touch the depths of a drama. It explored everything from Korea's held anger towards the Japanese to the DMZ to Korean multiracial adoptees, while challenging and flipping assumptions in funny and clever ways.The director – who admitted an homage to John Hughes – hired mostly 'non-actors' who knew their characters from the inside, which worked. For example, the actor who played Sergio from Mexico was actually a Spanish-speaking Korean man culturally representing himself. This was true too, for the German-speaking Korean man from Hamburg. The cast was beaming – you could tell they loved being in the movie.The only characters that didn't land for me were the 'rapper' guys, and the only assumptions that didn't move enough for me were those about Korean fathers. But there were so many other things that worked – including the solid 80's soundtrack – that it still made my night.