X
  • 2016
  • Unrated
  • Magnolia Pictures
  • 1 h 38 m
  • 2016
  • Unrated
  • Magnolia Pictures
  • 1 h 38 m

Summary The romance between the debonair film director Shin Sang-ok and glamorous actress Choi Eun-hee took them to the heights of South Korean society. Fame took a toll on their love, but it also attracted unbelievable twists of fate. The two find themselves kidnapped by the North Korean regime, and they are forced to play along with a bizarre ...

Directed By: Ross Adam, Robert Cannan

Written By: Ross Adam, Robert Cannan

  • 2016
  • Unrated
  • Magnolia Pictures
  • 1 h 38 m
  • 2016
  • Unrated
  • Magnolia Pictures
  • 1 h 38 m

The Lovers and the Despot

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 23 Critic Reviews
65
User Score Available after 4 ratings
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Where to Watch

Summary The romance between the debonair film director Shin Sang-ok and glamorous actress Choi Eun-hee took them to the heights of South Korean society. Fame took a toll on their love, but it also attracted unbelievable twists of fate. The two find themselves kidnapped by the North Korean regime, and they are forced to play along with a bizarre ...

Directed By: Ross Adam, Robert Cannan

Written By: Ross Adam, Robert Cannan

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 23 Critic Reviews
65
78% Positive
18 Reviews
22% Mixed
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

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

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 23 Critic Reviews
65
78% Positive
18 Reviews
22% Mixed
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
80
Sep 22, 2016
Cannan and Adam approach the outlandish crime as a puzzlement, all but wondering aloud how two celebrities could be stolen from public life and turned into a dictator’s puppets.
By Dave White FULL REVIEW
75
Sep 29, 2016
It’s a fantastically bonkers story told excitedly in The Lovers and the Despot, a stranger-than-fiction yarn that would make a hell of an opera.
By Brad Wheeler FULL REVIEW
75
Jan 31, 2016
As both an utterly mad true story and as a document of the boundless reach of the cinema across borders and cultures and even ideologies, The Lovers and the Despot is wild, valuable viewing for all.
By Dominick Suzanne-Mayer FULL REVIEW
70
Sep 21, 2016
The film is brisk and fascinating, ultimately moving, but also less rich than it might have been.
By Alan Scherstuhl FULL REVIEW
63
Sep 22, 2016
It’s told in a woefully pedestrian way, with talking-head footage forming the bulk of this slow-to-develop film. Still, it’s a creepily fascinating tale.
By Kyle Smith FULL REVIEW
50
Sep 23, 2016
A frustrating missed opportunity, The Lovers and the Despot takes a fascinating story about filmmaking, politics, kidnapping and propaganda and gives us almost no insight into the work of its two main characters, a director and his actress wife.
By Matt Zoller Seitz FULL REVIEW
40
Jan 31, 2016
It’s one hell of a yarn, which makes The Lovers and the Despot’s strangely soporific style something of a disappointment.
By Jordan Hoffman FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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Details

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Production Company Hellflower Film, Pumpernickel Films, Submarine, The Documentary Company, Tigerlily Films
Release Date Sep 23, 2016
Duration 1 h 38 m
Rating Unrated
Genres
Tagline They were kidnapped by their biggest fan.
Website http://www.shouguneiga.ayapro.ne.jp/
View All Details

Awards

Sundance Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
Cleveland International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
Edinburgh International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination

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