A Korean American family moves to an Arkansas farm in search of its own American dream. Amidst the challenges of this new life in the strange and rugged Ozarks, they discover the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.
Ratings
Curator score: 9.1/10
IMDb: 7.4/10
Letterboxd: 4.09/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
Metacritic: 89
TMDB: 7.3/10
Director
Lee Isaac Chung
Production
Plan B Entertainment
Cast
Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri, Youn Yuh-jung, Will Patton, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho, Darryl Cox, Esther Moon, Ben Hall, Eric Starkey, Jacob Wade, James Carroll, Jenny Phagan, Tina Parker, Chloe Lee, Joel Telford, Scott Haze, Kaye Brownlee-France, Skip Schwink, Tea Oh
Curator Review
Verdict
A tender, quietly devastating family drama that turns an immigrant homestead story into something intimate, funny, and deeply human. Its performances, cinematography, and emotional specificity make it one of the most affecting American dramas of its era.
Best for
viewers who like intimate family dramas
fans of immigrant and first-generation stories
people drawn to naturalistic performances and emotional restraint
audiences who appreciate lyrical cinematography and a gentle pace
Skip if
you want a plot-heavy or highly dramatic movie
you dislike slow-burn, character-centered storytelling
you prefer broad comedy or big emotional catharsis over subtlety
you want a conventional inspirational underdog story
Overview
Minari finds extraordinary feeling in ordinary labor: planting, arguing, cooking, praying, and trying to keep a family together while chasing a fragile dream. Lee Isaac Chung keeps the film small in scale but expansive in emotion, letting the Arkansas landscape, the seasons, and the household rhythms carry as much meaning as any speech or confrontation.
Worth noting
What makes it linger is the balance of tenderness and friction. The film is loving without being sentimental, honest without becoming harsh, and it understands how immigration stories are often also stories about marriage, aging, pride, and the burden of hope. Every family member feels fully observed, especially the grandmother, whose arrival changes the emotional weather of the movie.
Bottom line
It is the kind of film that can feel almost deceptively simple while it is unfolding, then stay with you for days. The performances are warm and lived-in, and the final effect is both specific to one Korean American family and widely recognizable to anyone who has ever tried to make a home from uncertainty.
Top Letterboxd reviews
˗ˏˋ suspirliam ˊˎ˗ (4.5★) · 12147 likes
and the academy award goes to alan kim in his little cowboy boots
Karsten (4.5★) · 7434 likes
I keep seeing the word "tender" slapped on every review for this and I....okay, yeah, I get it now. In a year full of beautiful film scores, this absolutely takes the cake. Both that and the cinematography feel SO dreamy. They simultaneously capture the hazy perspective of the parents, the old age of the grandmother, and the childlike wonder for both children.
Minari is such a specific movie full of specific scenes that all do specific things. What a vague way of describing a film's specificity. Essentially, it's unforgettable. I miss movie theatres.
demi adejuyigbe (4.5★) · 4881 likes
Ugh, couldn't stop crying through the entire second half of this.
For reasons I don't really understand, I don't remember most of my childhood and can't recall much about it without having something to remind me of my own experiences. It's always a very weird sensation when something does this because it's never what I expect, and I was not expecting it to happen several times while watching this! Very unifying to see so many of my own immigrant child… more
aaron (4.5★) · 4589 likes
yes grandma you're right, minari is wonderful
demi adejuyigbe (5★) · 4172 likes
steven yeun is the most compelling chicken sexer i’ve seen since gonzo