Anyone paying attention to the news knows we still have much work to do before we can all truly get along, and that makes Gook essential viewing.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Mar 21, 2019

Despite an underlying harshness, the film is often light, its playful moments easing the strain of its everyday racism.

| Feb 28, 2019

Fabricated with both feel-good and unsettling moments.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 1, 2019

It was an ambitious project to take on so many complicated themes, and the end result is a good film that is touching and thoughtful.

| Oct 11, 2018

The timing of Gook... seems very relevant, and I urge everyone to see it.

| Aug 6, 2018

There's a remarkably emotional undercurrent through every scene, with tiny details that take the breath away.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 1, 2018

A powerful tale of kinship in the face of adversity.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 18, 2018

In rooftop conversations, an impressionistic dance sequence that takes place in a parking lot and a devastating conclusion that teeters on the edge of melodrama, Chon finds a tone all of his own.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 18, 2018

It's witty, stylish and ultimately devastating.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 16, 2018

A progressive, refreshing take on the unseen stories of the LA riots.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 16, 2018

A punchy, freewheeling movie set around the LA riots, shot in black-and-white, with something of Spike Lee's style.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 15, 2018

The spirit of early Spike Lee infuses this patchy but energetic sophomore feature by writer-actor-director Justin Chon.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 12, 2018

Has much to say on America's racial melting pot that feels pertinent.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 6, 2018

Full Review | Jan 30, 2018

The racial discussions happening throughout are far from simplistic or rudimentary, this fearless multidimensionality giving Chon's script an impressive edge that's invigorating.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 2, 2017

Works best in its slow, steady moments, which allow its characters to breathe and help the film's sense of time and place flower to life.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 28, 2017

[John] Chon shows a definite talent for drawing out strong performances from his actors, as well as marshaling expressive imagery that's enhanced by Roger Suen's lyrical music score.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 28, 2017

Like "Clerks" with a conscience.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 21, 2017

Justin Chon's Gook, an admittedly uneven film with a lot on its mind, acts as an ever-present undercurrent to a particular form of racial strife.

| Sep 21, 2017

The cacophonous result comes a lot closer to recapturing the spirit of Crash than to recapturing the spirit of 1990s independent cinema.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 14, 2017