There are few films about Korean-Americans out there today so we must rely on Andrew Ahn's Spa Night as a contemporary example. This is a first-time feature by Ahn which features some neat cinematography covering the Los Angeles Koreatown neighborhood.
Unfortunately Ahn's screenplay fails to provide a satisfactory denouement and features a passive protagonist who exhibits little energy throughout. The main character is David Cho (Joe Seo), an 18 year old who works for his parents in their restaurant business.
When the parents are forced to close the business due to an economic downturn, David's mother finds another job right away through a friend from church. The father is not so lucky; he's only able to scrape up part-time work and on the first job he gets (along with David), he's underpaid by the owner who deducts money claiming their work is sub-par.
David soon is visiting the son of his mother's friend at USC and gets a taste of college life. He doesn't really fit in and it soon becomes clear that he's attracted to men. Meanwhile he agrees to take SAT prep classes to please his parents but surreptitiously obtains a job instead doing maintenance work at a 24 hour spa.
At a certain point toward the end, David brings his father to the spa to cool off after an unfortunate bout with alcohol. The aforementioned unsatisfactory denouement occurs when David has a sexual encounter with one of the customers at the spa, despite instructions that all patrons are not to engage in such prohibited behavior.
If my description of the film's ending appears a bit paltry, that's the nature of what actually happens. In other words, practically nothing. We can conclude there's an attempt at social commentary here as we note there's a certain economic precariousness within the Korean-American community and it's not easy for hard-working immigrants to achieve the "American Dream."
As to David's burgeoning sexuality, it's not enough to wrap up all the loose ends of a plot. Yes we get the fact that David is basically gay but there needs to be some kind of significant event that leads to a solid conclusion. No such luck here at all—hopefully Ahn's next effort will feature a more developed narrative that features a bonafide finale.
Unfortunately Ahn's screenplay fails to provide a satisfactory denouement and features a passive protagonist who exhibits little energy throughout. The main character is David Cho (Joe Seo), an 18 year old who works for his parents in their restaurant business.
When the parents are forced to close the business due to an economic downturn, David's mother finds another job right away through a friend from church. The father is not so lucky; he's only able to scrape up part-time work and on the first job he gets (along with David), he's underpaid by the owner who deducts money claiming their work is sub-par.
David soon is visiting the son of his mother's friend at USC and gets a taste of college life. He doesn't really fit in and it soon becomes clear that he's attracted to men. Meanwhile he agrees to take SAT prep classes to please his parents but surreptitiously obtains a job instead doing maintenance work at a 24 hour spa.
At a certain point toward the end, David brings his father to the spa to cool off after an unfortunate bout with alcohol. The aforementioned unsatisfactory denouement occurs when David has a sexual encounter with one of the customers at the spa, despite instructions that all patrons are not to engage in such prohibited behavior.
If my description of the film's ending appears a bit paltry, that's the nature of what actually happens. In other words, practically nothing. We can conclude there's an attempt at social commentary here as we note there's a certain economic precariousness within the Korean-American community and it's not easy for hard-working immigrants to achieve the "American Dream."
As to David's burgeoning sexuality, it's not enough to wrap up all the loose ends of a plot. Yes we get the fact that David is basically gay but there needs to be some kind of significant event that leads to a solid conclusion. No such luck here at all—hopefully Ahn's next effort will feature a more developed narrative that features a bonafide finale.