The Asian Cut
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Donate
  • Reviews
  • Features
    • Essays
    • Interviews
    • Columns
      • Criterion Recollection
      • The Queer Dispatch
    • Series
  • Literary
  • Contact Us
    • Write For Us
No Result
View All Result
The Asian Cut
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Donate
  • Reviews
  • Features
    • Essays
    • Interviews
    • Columns
      • Criterion Recollection
      • The Queer Dispatch
    • Series
  • Literary
  • Contact Us
    • Write For Us
No Result
View All Result
The Asian Cut
No Result
View All Result

Reel Asian 2022: ‘Riceboy Sleeps’ Is a Poignant Immigrant Story of Mother and Son

Rose Ho by Rose Ho
November 9, 2022
0
Choi Seung-yoon as So-young reading a book to Ethan Hwang as Dong-hyun on a couch in the movie Riceboy Sleeps.

Photo Courtesy of Game Theory Films

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Directed by Anthony Shim, Riceboy Sleeps is a tender portrait of a South Korean immigrant family set in 1990s suburban Canada. So-young (Choi Seung-yoon) is a newly widowed mother with a young son, Dong-hyun (Dohyun Noel Hwang as a child and Ethan Hwang as a teen). Having moved to Canada on her own, So-young makes her way with incredible resilience, working a factory job to provide for her family while instilling cultural values in her son amidst a predominantly white and callously racist society.

As Dong-hyun grows up, he pulls away from his mother’s proud heritage in order to fit into the mainstream, high school environment, but when tragedy falls upon So-young, bonds are re-forged between mother and son. The duo undertakes a poignant return to the motherland that helps Dong-hyun reconnect to the father he never knew, the culture he rebuffed, and brings emotional healing to the rebellious teenager.

The film is anchored by the quiet yet powerful performance by Choi as the model-minority-myth-busting So-young, whose petite frame belies someone who will not be pushed around. When school administrators call her in to discuss a fight that Dong-hyun was engaged in, she angrily points out the blatant racism that started the incident that they are ignoring. She also stands up to a man who gropes her at the factory where she works, only briefly considering walking away in the initial shock before doubling back with absolute fury in her eyes. Fiercely independent, she is prepared to face unimaginable hardship without the support of her beau, the Canadian-raised Korean Simon (director Shim in a supporting role) in order to spare him the trouble. Even as her only son withdraws from her, So-young proves to be a steadfast mother.

Riceboy Sleeps is an especially personal film for Shim, who is also the writer, editor, and producer on top of director and actor. Born in Seoul, South Korea, and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Shim draws from personal experiences as a dual-culture kid. That conflict is well-manifested in Dong-hyun, with his appearance demonstrating his initial otherness, his later desire to fit in with his white peers, and finally his reconnection to his culture. It’s a very relatable story for many immigrant children who find themselves torn between identities, finding acceptance and rejection at different points of their lives. Riceboy Sleeps beautifully shows the heartache in those moments of shared hindsight and nostalgia.

Now Streaming On

JustWatch
Tags: Anthony ShimCanadaChoi Seung-yoonDohyun Noel HwangEthan HwangReel AsianReel Asian 2022Riceboy Sleeps
ShareTweetShare
Rose Ho

Rose Ho

Rose Ho is a film critic. After her art criticism degree, she started her personal film blog, Rose-Coloured Ray-Bans, and joined the visual arts editorial team of LooseLeaf Magazine by Project 40 Collective, a creative platform for Canadian artists and writers of pan-Asian background. In 2020, she received the Emerging Critic Award from the Toronto Film Critics Association.

Related Posts

Headshot of director Jerome Yoo
Interviews

Director Jerome Yoo Discusses His Journey from Short Films to His Debut Feature, ‘Mongrels’

May 28, 2025
Keira Jang as Kiah and Sandra Oh as Ellie in Can I Get A Witness? by Ann Marie Fleming.
Reviews

‘Can I Get a Witness?’ Makes an Amateur Case Against the Anthropocene

March 14, 2025
Director Ann Marie Fleming and Sandra Oh on the set of CAN I GET A WITNESS?
Interviews

Sandra Oh Wanted to Investigate Death in ‘Can I Get a Witness?’ “Because I Fear It So Much”

March 13, 2025
Universal Language filmmakers, including Matthew Rankin, Pirouz Nemati, and Ila Firouzabadi.
Interviews

Pirouz Nemati and Ila Firouzabadi on the ‘Universal Language’ of Friendship

February 5, 2025
Co-Director and director Sook-Yin Lee of Paying For It.
Interviews

Sook-Yin Lee On Adapting ‘Paying For It’ With a ‘Rashomon’ Spin

January 31, 2025
15 Ways My Dad Almost Died stars Canadian-Filipino comedian Alia Rasul
Reviews

‘15 Ways My Dad Almost Died’ Unearths A Forgotten History Through Humour 

December 10, 2024
Next Post
Fujiwara Tatsuya as Keita, Matsuyama Ken'ichi as Jun, and Kamiki Ryūnosuke as Shin leaning against a table in a factory in the movie Noise.

Reel Asian 2022: ‘Noise’ Loses Its Premise In The Excess Noise

RECENT POSTS

Kôji Yakusho as Shohei Sugiyama and Tamiyo Kusakari as Mai Kishikawa dancing in a dance class in Shall We Dance?

The Choreography of Trust: Masayuki Suô and Kusakari Tamiyo on ‘Shall We Dance?’

by Lauren Hayataka
June 1, 2025

Headshot of director Jerome Yoo

Director Jerome Yoo Discusses His Journey from Short Films to His Debut Feature, ‘Mongrels’

by Rose Ho
May 28, 2025

Rima Zeidan as Hsu Zi-qi sitting on the edge of a bed in Missing Johnny.

‘Missing Johnny’: A Quiet, Yet Impactful, Character Study of Everyday Living

by Wilson Kwong
May 25, 2025

Han Gi-chan, Youn Yuh-jung, and Kelly Marie Tran in The Wedding Banquet.

‘The Wedding Banquet’ Is Less Feast, More Cosy Potluck

by Rose Ho
April 25, 2025

Ally Chiu as Shaowu stands across from Jack Kao as Keiko at an airport with a full luggage trolly between them in The Gangster's Daughter.

‘The Gangster’s Daughter’ Avoids Tropes and a Committed Direction

by Wilson Kwong
April 9, 2025

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Literary
  • Contact Us

Copyright © The Asian Cut 2025. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Donate
  • Reviews
  • Features
    • Essays
    • Interviews
    • Columns
      • Criterion Recollection
      • The Queer Dispatch
    • Series
  • Literary
  • Contact Us
    • Write For Us