For his 22nd feature as director, Hong Sangsoo delivers a delicious cinematic riddle only he could concoct. In the corner of a small cafeé, Areum (Kim Minhee) sits typing on her laptop. At the tables around her, other customers enact the various dramas of their lives. A young couple charge each other with serious crimes, an old man tries to rekindle a flame with a younger woman, a narcissistic filmmaker works to put together his next project—all while Areum types. Is she merely writing what she hears? Or is she hearing what’s been written? As the dramas inside the café unfold, the plants outside grow taller. (Cinema Guild)
An unexpectedly spectral film.
- Daniel Kasman, MUBI Notebook
Like the best artists in any field, Hong, who’s fifty-seven, keeps getting better.
- Richard Brody, The New Yorker
A deceptively potent entry in the canon, a thimbleful of purest, concentrated Hong-brand soju.
Jessica Kiang, Variety
Poignant and even hopeful... Hong has taken the familiar elements of his work and exploded them.
- Chuck Bowen, Slant Magazine
Short, bittersweet and unsurprisingly soaked in soju, Grass could double as a snapshot of his filmography.
- Sarah Ward, Screen Daily
(Available to download after screening date)