Personal Rating: 7/10 (worth watching)
Looking at the other reviews for this film I feel like I need to address something right off the bat, this is not a romantic movie. If you came here looking to watch a relationship blossom between an older gentleman and young girl... this is certainly not it. A note of finality on this subject, the movie is categorized as "Crime, Drama" and that's exactly what it is.
Now that we've got that out of the way, onto the actual review.
This movie is engaging from the get-go, barely giving you enough time to breathe before the inciting accident takes place, starting the whirlwind that is this movie. For a movie that's 2hr and 9mins long, the pacing was quite nice with some areas a little waning but always holding enough action to keep you hooked. It utilized the long runtime well with all the main characters being fleshed out nicely and having very fulfilling character arcs! The wrap-up at the end of this movie was one of the nicest I'd seen in quite some time.
But the reason I would implore you to watch this movie isn't the actors, story arcs, music nor cinematography. It's the journey you go on with the main character, Soon-ho. This is a movie about overcoming prejudice, prejudice you might not even be aware you have. Yet it gives you so many miny victories throughout, signs of progress and deeper understanding that you never feel so guilty you have to turn the movie off. In the end, it leaves you with much to think about yet real-world advice to help. As someone who has a few family members on the autism spectrum, I think this film handled the delicate subject tastefully and politely.
This is the first Korean film I've ever watched and it set the bar quite high. The casting and acting were fantastic. The music was tasteful and yet not too bold, really complimenting whatever was on screen; there were a few abrupt cuts of the music but that can be chalked up to the editors' fault, or perhaps, style. I did watch the movie with English subtitles and was honestly quite disappointed in the translation. There were many moments where you could tell the actor or actress meant so much more than the English translation, also there were instances where because of the basic translation a few of the emotional beats weren't as impactful as I wish they would've been, again not blaming the performances but instead the subtitles and my complete lack of speaking Korean.
If you're still sitting on the fence, watch this movie. Soon-ho's father alone makes it worth it.
