X
  • 2022
  • PG-13
  • MUBI
  • 1 h 23 m
  • 2022
  • PG-13
  • MUBI
  • 1 h 23 m
Free Chol Soo Lee

Summary In 1970s San Francisco, 20-year-old Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee is racially profiled and convicted of a Chinatown gang murder. After spending years fighting to survive, investigative journalist K.W. Lee takes a special interest in his case, igniting an unprecedented social justice movement.

Directed By: Julie Ha, Eugene Yi

Written By: Carol Dysinger, Chol Soo Lee, Sebastian Yoon, Eugene Yi, Julie Ha

  • 2022
  • PG-13
  • MUBI
  • 1 h 23 m
  • 2022
  • PG-13
  • MUBI
  • 1 h 23 m

Free Chol Soo Lee

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 15 Critic Reviews
73
User Score Available after 4 ratings
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Summary In 1970s San Francisco, 20-year-old Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee is racially profiled and convicted of a Chinatown gang murder. After spending years fighting to survive, investigative journalist K.W. Lee takes a special interest in his case, igniting an unprecedented social justice movement.

Directed By: Julie Ha, Eugene Yi

Written By: Carol Dysinger, Chol Soo Lee, Sebastian Yoon, Eugene Yi, Julie Ha

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 15 Critic Reviews
73
93% Positive
14 Reviews
7% Mixed
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 15 Critic Reviews
73
93% Positive
14 Reviews
7% Mixed
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
90
Aug 25, 2022
In its clear-eyed empathy for the totality of life, Free Chol Soo Lee is only deepened by not ignoring what happens when the spotlight fades on a righted wrong, and what’s left are demons, trauma, guilt and that thing both sought after and scary: being free.
By Robert Abele FULL REVIEW
80
Aug 22, 2022
[An] impressive and wrenchingly sad documentary.
By Wendy Ide FULL REVIEW
80
Aug 12, 2022
There’s a throughline in this country’s history that goes from The Asian Exclusion Act to Chol Soo Lee’s case to publicized cases in the last few years of hate crimes against Asians. Free Chol Soo Lee reminds us that when we sit on the sideline and do not actively fight against discrimination and the stereotyping of Asians, real people, such as Chol Soo Lee, suffer.
By Ray Lobo FULL REVIEW
75
Aug 12, 2022
Chol Soo Lee’s complicated story deserves to be told; this film does a good job telling it.
By Odie Henderson FULL REVIEW
70
Aug 22, 2022
Free Chol Soo Lee is not a true crime documentary. If anything, it goes out of its way to avoid becoming one.
By K. Austin Collins FULL REVIEW
67
Nov 22, 2022
As documentary Free Chol Soo Lee shows, it's wisdom that seems to evade what are supposed to be the mechanisms of that justice.
By Richard Whittaker FULL REVIEW
60
Aug 12, 2022
Free Chol Soo Lee is somewhat dry and, as criminal-justice documentaries go, sadly familiar when it strays from Lee’s unique and grim perspective, which includes details of his struggles with prison life and depression.
By Ben Kenigsberg FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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Details

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Production Company XTR
Release Date Aug 12, 2022
Duration 1 h 23 m
Rating PG-13
Genres
Website https://mubi.com/films/free-chol-soo-lee
View All Details

Awards

Sundance Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
Television Critics Association Awards
• 1 Nomination

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