--- title: "Return to Seoul: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/return-to-seoul/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/return-to-seoul" critics_score: 81 critics_reviews: 13 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Return to Seoul (2022): what the critics said Critics' score 81 from 13 reviews: 13 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are uniformly positive, with no critic dissenting from the view that this is a serious and unusual film. Praise clusters overwhelmingly on Park Ji-min, a first-time actor, whose performance as the adoptee Freddie is described again and again as the film’s centre: changeable, blunt and hard to look away from. Davy Chou’s direction draws steady admiration for its intimacy and for a structure that follows Freddie across several years and several visits to Seoul, refusing to settle into a conventional adoption drama. The reservations are mild and few. /Film notes some sluggish stretches, and The Hollywood Reporter finds Freddie exasperating company even while calling the film a trip worth taking. A handful of festival reviews, Screen Daily among them, are warm rather than rapturous, describing the film as intriguing and unpredictable rather than remarkable. The spread is narrow: nobody dislikes it, and the only argument is over how far to go in praising it. ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 4 May 2023. The critic finds the film daring and mesmeric as it follows an adoptee's search for her birth parents that yields no easy resolution or meaning. Park Ji-min's phenomenal debut performance stands out for its portrayal of manufactured indifference and inner turmoil. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/return-to-seoul-movie-review-uk-release-b2331730.html) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 7 May 2023. The film is a remarkably intimate and very affecting drama about an adoptee searching for her roots in South Korea. The critic singles out the lead performance by first-time actor Park Ji-min as mesmerising and transformative. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/may/07/return-to-seoul-review-davy-chou-laure-badufle-park-ji-min-lights-up-mesmerising-tale-of-identity-and-alienation) ## Empire — John Nugent Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 9 May 2023. The elliptical film dramatises an adoptee's chaotic grappling with identity over several years through heavy drinking, sexual openness and impulsive decisions. Ji-min Park's staggering debut performance is the standout, leaving viewers wistful and heartbroken. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/return-to-seoul/) ## Little White Lies — Ella Kemp Rating 3/4/3. 2 May 2023. Davy Chou’s bittersweet comedy of a Korean adoptee searching for her biological parents is powered by a dazzling lead performance. The mercurial structure and vivid colours make the film remarkable and likely to stand the test of time. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/return-to-seoul) ## Time Out — Kambole Campbell Rating 4/5. 25 April 2023. Director Davy Chou charts Freddie’s attempts to come to terms with her tumultuous feelings towards her background in this naturalist drama. Heartbreaking performances and close-up camerawork single out the emotional challenge of reconnecting with an estranged birthplace. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/return-to-seoul-2023) ## Total Film — Kevin Harley Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 25 April 2023. Chou anchors a captivating portrait of choppy selfhood in the lead's febrile nuances between partying, clashes and hedonistic excesses. Park Ji-min brings near-musical virtuosity to the questing character piece as a woman mapping her own life routes. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/return-to-seoul-review/) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 22 May 2022. Festival review. Davy Chou’s second feature is an intriguing and mercurial character study of a young adoptee returning to reconnect with her roots. It has a seductive, searching quality and a swell of melancholy which makes for an engaging if unpredictable journey. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/return-to-seoul-cannes-review/5170639.article) ## IndieWire — David Ehrlich 8 September 2022. The review calls it a jagged and riveting adoption drama carried by one of 2022’s best performances. It highlights newcomer Park Ji-Min as impossible to look away from in her role as a woman searching for her true identity. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/return-to-seoul-review-1234759918/) ## Los Angeles Times — Carlos Aguilar 1 December 2022. Davy Chou’s exuberant Return to Seoul ponders a young woman’s constant evolution in an electric and segmented drama that brilliantly muses on the impermanence of everything we know. Every single scene and line of dialogue feel absolutely indispensable in this staggering masterwork. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-12-01/review-return-to-seoul-davy-chou-park-ji-min) ## RogerEbert.com — Monica Castillo 17 February 2023. Chou’s film is an uneasy exploration of the concept of home and the heartache of losing it, following an imperfect heroine on her emotional journey to find a home in herself. Park Ji-min delivers a formidable performance as the complex, contradictory Freddie. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/return-to-seoul-movie-review-2023) ## Slant Magazine — Chris Barsanti 9 September 2022. The review describes a bracing, ambiguous portrait of a restless spirit that sublimely juxtaposes character and culture. It singles out the precision of Park Ji-min’s shape-shifting performance across the film’s timeline. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/return-to-seoul-review-davy-chou/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Sheri Linden 26 May 2022. Festival review. The critic finds the central character exasperating yet notes that the film is a trip well worth taking. Praise goes to the subtle power of writer-director Davy Chou’s storytelling and Park Ji-Min’s strong debut performance. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/return-to-seoul-cannes-review-1235148420/) ## The New York Times — Amy Nicholson Rating Critic’s Pick. 1 December 2022. Return to Seoul is a startling and uneasy wonder that feels like a beautiful sketch of a tornado headed directly toward your house. The magnetic, sexy, mercurial and bold performance by first-time actor Park Ji-Min as the reckless adoptee anchors the film. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/01/movies/return-to-seoul-review.html) ## The Times — Kevin Maher Rating ★★★★☆. 5 May 2023. Park Ji-min delivers a powerhouse debut as an impulsive woman searching for her biological parents over several years. The critic praises it as a gorgeous study holding deep truths about identity and denial. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/return-to-seoul-review-a-gorgeous-study-that-holds-deep-truths-jrtqvhkb8) ## Variety — Jessica Kiang 27 May 2022. Festival review. Return to Seoul is a strange, deep, changeable and wise film that transforms from adoption drama to a much more intriguing investigation of place and belonging. Park Ji-min’s riveting performance as the divided Freddie conducts an enlivening electricity into the film’s core. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/return-to-seoul-review-1235279029/) ## Vulture 17 February 2023. Park Ji-min’s remarkable lead performance elevates the film to a masterwork. The critic praises the withholding yet moving meditation on identity and culture, grounded in the actor’s expressive face and the director’s careful charting of cultural forces. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/return-to-seoul-movie-review-a-star-is-born.html) ## The Playlist — Jason Bailey Rating A. 3 December 2022. The review highlights how the film starts as a modest slice-of-life drama and deepens into an exploration of self-deception and identity. It singles out the debut lead performance for its range and emotional power. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/return-to-seoul-review-a-delicate-penetrating-character-study-20221203/) ## Collider — Ross Bonaime Rating A-. 22 September 2022. The critic highlights the film's exploration of identity through multiple visits by the protagonist to Seoul, praising Ji-min Park's versatile and vulnerable lead performance as one of the year's finest. [Read the review](https://collider.com/return-to-seoul-review-ji-min-park-davy-chou/) ## Deadline — Anna Smith Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 22 May 2022. Festival review. The film is an engaging drama about an adoptee exploring her Korean roots through a complex central character. It singles out newcomer Park Ji-Min’s terrific performance as the mercurial, blunt Freddie for praise. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2022/05/return-to-seoul-all-the-people-ill-never-be-cannes-review-un-certain-regard-1235029978/) ## The Skinny — Ross McIndoe Rating ★★★★. 27 April 2023. The critic describes the film as a piercing, powerful character drama driven by a fearless debut performance. They single out Park Ji-min’s commanding portrayal of the restless protagonist for praise. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/return-to-seoul-davy-chou) ## /Film — Hoai-Tran Bui Rating 7/10. 17 October 2022. Festival review. The critic describes the film as capturing the angst of cultural identity and belonging for a transracial adoptee through her restless journeys. It praises the lead performance and the director's intimate, knotty character study while noting some sluggish moments. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/1056418/return-to-seoul-review-a-restless-roaming-reverie-on-cultural-identity-nyff/) ## HeyUGuys — Jo-Ann Titmarsh Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 15 November 2022. Festival review. The film follows a young French adoptee's multiple visits to Seoul over several years as she navigates meetings with her birth father and attempts to integrate into Korean life. The critic praises the lead performance for making the prickly protagonist sympathetic despite her emotional distance. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/return-to-seoul-review/) ## Paste — Kayti Burt Rating 8.5. 2 December 2022. Festival review. The critic commends the film's focus on the complex interior life of a transnational adoptee across eight years of returns to Seoul, singling out Park Ji-min's revelatory debut performance for its improvisation and emotional depth. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/return-to-seoul-review) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/return-to-seoul.md