Right Now, Wrong Then (2016)

Right Now, Wrong Then (2016)

A clever reflection on romantic encounters is a perfect introduction to this South Korean auteur

7.7

Movie

South Korea
Korean
Comedy, Drama, Romance
2016
HONG SANG-SOO, SANG-SOO HONG
Choi Hwa-jeong, Gi Ju-bong, Go A-sung
121 min

What it's about

Chun-su arrives in Suwon one day earlier than scheduled. He has a special lecture to give the next day. Chun-su decides to visit a palace and meets Hee-jung there. Hee-jung is a painter and she lets Chun-su see her workroom with her paintings. In the evening, they go out eat and drink together. There, Chun-su reveals something unexpected to Hee-jung.

The take

In the West, South Korean film is largely defined by the ingenious (oft violent) bombast of directors like Park Chan-wook (Oldboy) and Bong Joon-ho (Parasite), but there is a quieter tradition championed by director Hong Sang-soo that is just as imaginative and worthy of your time. This fascinating film serves as a perfect entry point to a director whose filmography is full of similar riches.

A film director arrives in town to deliver a lecture, and having some time to kill, ends up sharing a day with a stranger. This simple set-up recalling Before Sunrise leads down a charming and quietly romantic route that would be delightful on its own, but Right Now, Wrong Then is about much more than just a chance encounter. It’s a film more concerned with how little moments here and there can change everything, and how much our lives are governed as much by chance and timing as the choices we make.

Comments

Add a comment

Your name

Your comment

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

The Boxer (1997)

Star-crossed lovers stand their ground in this disappointing Northern Irish drama

6.8

Down the Rabbit Hole (2024)

A painfully uneventful coming-of-age story about a boy and his drug-lord father

3.5

Mona Lisa (1986)

A neo-noir love story that dives deep into London’s underworld

7.7

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

A star-studded and riveting legal drama with a blockbuster feel.

8.1

La Belle Noiseuse (1991)

A sensual, spellbinding masterpiece depicting the creative process and its muse

8.1

The Guilty (2018)

A minimalist, razor-sharp thriller that will have you gasping for air.

9.0

La Chimera (2023)

A dreamy, bewitching film that ponders on ideas of lostness and longing

8.0

Forgotten Love (2023)

The stunning third take of the classic Polish pre-war melodrama

7.7

Wicked Little Letters (2024)

It’s not the most original mystery out there, nor the most rousing feminist piece, but Wicked Little Letters’ robust performances make it well worth watching

7.1

System Crasher (2019)

A tale of trauma and one of the most talked about movies on Netflix in 2020.

9.0

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2024 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.