Koreatown kid realizes he’s gay
David Cho is 18 and lives with his parents in the bustling Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles, a place where Korean immigrants, such as his parents, can live, work and worship without needing to speak English.
Dad is an alcoholic and has just lost the family restaurant, Mom has to take a job at another restaurant to make ends meet, and David ( Joe Seo) has to pick a college. As if that weren’t enough drama, David is struggling with his own sexuality.
Writer-director Andrew Ahn has made a confident, assured, low-key debut that’s a textbook example of how to make a compelling small-budget movie.
Ahn chooses to shoot in a widescreen aspect ratio, which makes the film look bigger. His camera rarely moves, yet the crisp editing keeps things humming along (no handheld shots here, which would have only accentuated the low budget). His cinematography is simple, yet effective; there isn’t a music score. “Spa Night” is a very well-made movie.
Another aspect of Koreatown life is the bathhouses — David’s parents go to these spas, and David goes there with a friend and begins to gain an understanding of the furtive glances and coded gestures that help gay men connect. Ahn tastefully hints at pleasures experienced amid the steam, but you wouldn’t call the atmosphere steamy; more like repressive, which fits David well.
Interestingly, the key relationship in the film is between David and his mother, Soyoung (Haerry Kim, very good). It is she who is desperately trying to keep the family together, even though the family is facing its worst crisis since Mom and Pop immigrated 20 years earlier.
At the same time, his mother and father (Youn Ho Cho) encourage him to live his life independently; they don’t want to drag him down.
So he gets a job — at a spa, of course. But will he find the answers he seeks there?