Return to Seoul is an irresistible work that one is likely to return to again and again.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 1, 2024

Return to Seoul may seem like a quiet film at first...but, in truth, the film is deceptively devastating in its examination — to a forensic degree in some aspects — of its protagonist’s heart and soul.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Jul 12, 2024

No matter how much Freddie’s appearance might change, Park’s commanding performance ensures that the character's soul remains intact.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 4, 2024

It is amazing how watching an actor convey an array of emotions can help a viewer reflect on their own unfamiliar emotional experience regardless of how different the circumstances are.

| Jun 2, 2024

Like the best stories, Return to Seoul understands that people contain multitudes, that in our quest for ourselves we don’t always do everything the most pragmatic way, and that can make us tough to like sometimes.

| Jan 25, 2024

Davy Chou and Park Ji-Min sensitively translate the chaos of defining one’s identity.

| Jan 23, 2024

Davy Chou's Return to Seoul is the immigrant-life-that-could've-been film I most connected with in a visceral way this year.

| Jan 4, 2024

Park Ji-min's performance is believable as she gives life to a character intially unlikeable and with whom we ultimately empathize. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 27, 2023

An unconventional adoptee-narrative and singular character portrait that’s as irrepressible as its heroine.

| Aug 21, 2023

Return to Seoul revels in the possibilities of perpetual drift. Freddie’s relationships with her birth parents, her adoptive parents, and herself remain in flux.

| Aug 7, 2023

My favorite films are those in which I can sense the filmmakers’ excitement at possibilities that they are discovering. That’s true here — it's as if the storytellers are inspired by the gambles their own protagonist is taking.

| Original Score: A- | Aug 7, 2023

It's pointed and observant, as Chou and his cast find jarring details in each scene that approach the central theme from unexpected angles. This raises big ideas about the difficulty of finding yourself in a multi-faceted world.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jul 31, 2023

Don't believe the K-dramas. Look to "Return to Seoul" for a more realistic view on Korean adoptees.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 26, 2023

Return to Seoul is a mesmerizing film about fractured identity featuring a versatile performance from Park and a layered script from Chou.

| Jul 25, 2023

This fantastic film is just as much the creation of its star, Park Ji-min, a French-Korean visual artist who had never acted before. She gives an extraordinary performance as Freddie.

| Jul 5, 2023

It’s all about the unsteadiness and volatility of being and belonging with a beautiful melody to hold on to in the end.

| Jun 8, 2023

It is in that gap – between self-protection and exposure; between theory and reality – that this spirited, stimulating film finds its resonance.

| Jun 8, 2023

No matter how many immense leaps through time the film takes, it paints an intimate portrait that ensures even the quietest moments are bursting with emotion.

| May 31, 2023

This is so fluid, and dynamic, and liberated in its style.

| May 26, 2023

Park Ji-min is incredible in this film. I cannot believe it was a debut performance. She's so magnetic, and unpredictable, and sexy, and changeable.

| May 26, 2023