Minari

Directed by Lee Isaac Chung, Minari follows a first-generation Korean family, including Steven Yuen’s Jacob and Yeri Han’s Monica, as they arrive in Arkansas hoping to improve their lives by starting a farm. Filmmaker Chung, working from his own screenplay, delivers a deliberate yet mostly compelling drama that benefits from its methodical, increasingly absorbing atmosphere and raft of exceedingly captivating performances – with, in terms of the latter, Yuen’s top-notch work as the story’s ambitious patriarch anchoring the proceedings on an ongoing basis. (It’s clear, too, that certain periphery players, especially Will Patton and Yuh-jung Youn, heighten the movie’s pervasively watchable vibe.) And although the picture admittedly does suffer from a slightly overlong running time that results in a somewhat hit-and-miss midsection, Minari, once it passes a certain point, adopts a progressively enthralling feel that paves the way for an emotionally-resonant and downright devastating final stretch – thus securing the film’s place as an authentic and thoroughly stirring slice-of-life drama that bodes well for Chung’s future endeavors behind the camera.

***1/2 out of ****