By Matt Neglia
A24 has released the first trailer for Lee Isaac Chung’s award winning film “Minari” starring Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho, Youn Yuh-jung & Will Patton. The independent critical hit debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year where it won both the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize as well as the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award.
Click below to see the trailer.
Plot Synopsis: It’s the 1980s, and David, a seven-year-old Korean American boy, is faced with new surroundings and a different way of life when his father, Jacob, moves their family from the West Coast to rural Arkansas. His mother, Monica, is aghast that they live in a mobile home in the middle of nowhere, and naughty little David and his sister are bored and aimless. When his equally mischievous grandmother arrives from Korea to live with them, her unfamiliar ways arouse David’s curiosity. Meanwhile, Jacob, hell-bent on creating a farm on untapped soil, throws their finances, his marriage, and the stability of the family into jeopardy.
So what do you think of the trailer? This is A24’s only Oscar contender this year and while no theatrical release is set at this time it is making the rounds at the regional film festivals with hopes of a theatrical release either before or even after the Oscars.
Having seen the film, I can happily tell you all this is the real deal. It’s a beautiful and humane movie with fantastic performances from the entire cast and a gorgeous score by Emile Mosseri. While it looks like it may follow the same trajectory as A24’s “The Farewell,” where it did well with the precursors and in the end, failed to land any Oscar nominations, “Minari” is benefiting from a weaker field due to COVID-19. Sources at A24 have told me that this is their only Oscar contender for 2020 and they hope to see “Minari” contend in a ton of categories including Best Actor for Steven Yeun, Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture. Hopefully enough people will see it and come to know what I’ve known since Sundance: this is one of the best films of 2020. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or on our Twitter account.
You can follow Matt and hear more of his thoughts on the Oscars and Film on Twitter at @NextBestPicture
