I stumbled upon "Seoul Searching" while looking through the Asia movie collection on Netflix. I hadn't seen or even heard about this movie prior to finding it there and deciding to watch it.
I must admit that I had expected it to be just another teenage romantic comedy, but it turned out that I was in for something far greater and much deeper. This movie turned out to be quite entertaining on many different levels.
The characters in the movie were quite colorful and very varied, which leaves just about something for just about everyone in the audience. There were some characters that you took an instant liking to and some with an instant adversity towards. But there were also characters that felt cheated out of screen time and were nothing more than just fillers, which was a shame - such as the twins, for example.
This is a collection of various stories coming together as one entwined story, as Koreans from different countries abroad from Korea come together for a cultural summer camp in Seoul, to learn about their heritage.
I was especially taken in by the story of Sid and also the story of Kris. Sid's story was definitely one of personal growth and progress, whereas Kris's story was one of reunion and coming face to face with her past.
You might want to keep a tissue or two within reach, because there are some very emotional moments in the movie. I was taken aback by these and didn't except such excellence in direction from a movie such as this.
The movie was full of great talents, and I especially enjoyed the performances of Rosalina Lee (playing Kris), Justin Chon (playing Sid), Jessika Van (playing Grace) and last, but not least, In-Pyo Cha (playing Mr. Kim). The entire movie had a great cast, but these really stood out in my opinion.
"Seoul Searching" is the type of movie that will sink right in and stay with you for quite a while after the movie have ended. I was genuinely surprised and entertained by "Seoul Searching" and I can warmly recommend that you take the time to watch it if you haven't already seen it.
