Criticism of ‘Return to Seoul’, the surprise of an unpredictable film

We are looking at one of those few feature films that, from the synopsis, we would almost imagine its plot, its tone and its everything, but that later It turns out to be anything but predictable, just the opposite of what cinema, let’s say, is ‘common’. (if you hurry me, Western), whether big industry or indie, it doesn’t matter, I would have conceived and executed from its premise.

Strange Object Where They May Be, Davy Chou’s second film, after the hypnotically juicy ‘Diamond Island’ (2016), reminds us over and over again, as its (sometimes disconcerting) chapters go by, that its creator rejects clichés, mainly fabulatory and expository, but occasionally also staging. And it is that, both in form and substance, ‘Return to Seoul’ is not only one of the most successfully anomalous initiation stories (identity, roots… blabliblú) that are remembered, but also a monolith in honor of expressive subtlety on screen, and how cinema, despite the prevailing narrative routines, can still offer unforeseen mental journeys and unplanned emotional flashes.

For those who value the unexpected

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DATA SHEET

Address: Davy Chou Distribution: Ji-min Park, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Yoann Zimmer, Oh Kwang-rok Nuta Country: Cambodia Year: 2022 Release date: 24–3-2023 Gender: Drama Script: Davy Chou Duration: 117 min.

Synopsis: On a whim, twenty-five-year-old Freddie returns to South Korea for the first time, where he was born. The young woman ardently sets out in search of her origins in this country that is alien to her, tilting her life in new and unexpected directions.