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  • 2019
  • The Cinema Guild
  • 1 h 36 m
  • 2019
  • The Cinema Guild
  • 1 h 36 m

Summary An aging poet, Younghwan (Ki Joobong), summons his two estranged sons (Kwon Haehyo and Yu Junsang) to a solitary hotel beside the Han River because he feels his death is near. While waiting for them to arrive, he meets two women (Kim Minhee and Song Seonmi) out walking in the new-fallen snow and is struck by their angelic beauty. But the...

  • 2019
  • The Cinema Guild
  • 1 h 36 m
  • 2019
  • The Cinema Guild
  • 1 h 36 m

Hotel by the River

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 12 Critic Reviews
79
User Score Generally Favorable Based on 8 User Ratings
7.0
My Score
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Where to Watch

Summary An aging poet, Younghwan (Ki Joobong), summons his two estranged sons (Kwon Haehyo and Yu Junsang) to a solitary hotel beside the Han River because he feels his death is near. While waiting for them to arrive, he meets two women (Kim Minhee and Song Seonmi) out walking in the new-fallen snow and is struck by their angelic beauty. But the...

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 12 Critic Reviews
79
100% Positive
12 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

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

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 12 Critic Reviews
79
100% Positive
12 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
91
Sep 5, 2018
Slow-paced and meditative, Hotel by the River is a director’s plunge into a milieu where chuckles go hand in hand, often to ambiguous and conflicting extents, with a melancholic bracing for death.
By Leonardo Goi FULL REVIEW
88
Sep 5, 2018
A story of a poet, Hotel by the River comes to resemble a poetry collection itself, abounding in emotional currents and grace notes that are bracingly allowed to hang, free of reductive explication.
By Chuck Bowen FULL REVIEW
83
Feb 12, 2019
But despite its wry tone, the movie offers, in the character of Young-hwan, one of the filmmaker’s more caustic artist stand-ins. The aging sadsack poet can’t see anything outside of himself.
By Ignatiy Vishnevetsky FULL REVIEW
80
Sep 6, 2018
The forlorn feel of Hotel By The River becomes increasingly endearing, and there is a strain of bone dry humour that lightens the mood.
By Allan Hunter FULL REVIEW
78
Feb 27, 2019
The director is notorious for not having a working script, writing the day’s scenes the morning of, and improvising at any given moment. The internet tells me that this film was shot in two weeks, and while Hong’s off-the-cuff style seems restless at times, it coagulates like a small scab that never quite stops itching.
By Josh Kupecki FULL REVIEW
75
Oct 9, 2018
The relatively gentle, meditative, and straightforward Hotel by the River is like everything and nothing that Hong has made before; to say that it’s “just another Hong” movie is an accurate way of emphasizing what makes it special.
By David Ehrlich FULL REVIEW
70
Sep 6, 2018
The sorrowful situations are frequently laced with chuckles,
By Boyd van Hoeij FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 8 User Ratings
7.0
75% Positive
6 Ratings
13% Mixed
1 Rating
13% Negative
1 Rating

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 8 User Ratings
7.0
75% Positive
6 Ratings
13% Mixed
1 Rating
13% Negative
1 Rating

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

Details

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Production Company Jeonwonsa Film
Release Date Feb 15, 2019
Duration 1 h 36 m
Genres
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Awards

Gijón International Film Festival
• 3 Wins & 3 Nominations
Locarno International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
Korean Association of Film Critics Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination

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