On the Beach at Night Alone

Released Nov 17, 2017

1h 41m

Drama

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On the Beach at Night Alone: Trailer 1

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92%

Tomatometer

52 Reviews

67%

Audience Score

250+ Ratings

After a publicized affair with her director, an actress leaves South Korea and goes to Hamburg, where she gains insight into the meanings of love and identity.

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Critics Consensus

On the Beach at Night Alone finds writer-director Sang-soo Hong working in a more personal vein -- without losing the singular sensibilities that have informed much of his acclaimed earlier work.

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G. Allen Johnson

San Francisco Chronicle

Hong [Sang-soo's] work can frustrate, but his observant cinema can also be revelatory, a reason he has such a strong international following.

Rated: 3/4

Dec 4, 2017

Full Review

Justin Chang

Los Angeles Times

It's more than worth seeing for Kim's exposed nerve endings alone, and also for the way in which Hong's typically playful sensibility seems to tilt at times into a surreal, menacing strangeness.

Nov 21, 2017

Full Review

Jonathan Romney

Film Comment Magazine

In the emotional depth that Kim brings to her depiction of Younghee, one of this year's most fully rounded pictures of a complex female personality, sexually and emotionally aware of who she is, and seeing her struggles through for better or worse.

Nov 17, 2017

Full Review

Farah Cheded

A Good Movie To Watch

A sometimes gentle, sometimes bracing meta confrontation of the real-life drama swirling behind the film.

Sep 30, 2023

Full Review

David Bax

Battleship Pretension

...as it progresses and the many, many awkward laughs pile up (honestly, this is a very funny movie), it becomes clear that surrealist is exactly what it is...

Dec 10, 2020

Full Review

CJ Sheu

Critics at Large

It's also a slow burn, ... [b]ut Kim [Min-hee] gets two stupendous set-pieces, all facilitated by alcohol, and she burns it all down.

Jun 30, 2020

Full Review

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Tam NHN2 B

It was crazy. This movie weirdly brings you to a sorrowful, confusing lake. It pulls you into the movie frame of the character. The sadness and loneliness of the main character are both so real and unique, but also seem so deep and universal to any of us when we are lost and disoriented. The director's way of telling the story is careless and extravagant, leaving the actors alone and full of calculation. It's strange. And beautiful!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/25/23

Full Review

Richard L

Stilted dialogue and bland acting is all that's on offer in this snoozefest full of typically Korean talking-around-the-point. You'd be better off just listening in on conversations at your local café.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

04/01/23

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chris w

8 7 8 9 9 8 9 9 9 9 = 85 2020/3/21 洪常秀無疑是獨特的電影工作者，從第一部"無人的女兒海媛"開始便維持一慣的風格，大量的對話與固定攝影機拍攝，內容多是男女之間微妙與不可言的關係。如同"這時對，那時錯"中顯微映出的厭男與大男人主義的可笑，目前無法確定導演對於男主角(們)不時透露男性獨有的無知自大、卑微猥瑣與隱約帶有暴力的強迫之看法，但對於女性崇高的價值觀無庸置疑，金敏喜是谷崎潤一郎筆下的雪，是導演捧在手心至高無上的寶物。其中女性互吻的片段尤其饒富趣味，男人們只能乾瞪著眼，祈求女主角能夠開啟心中的門使其能夠一親芳澤。最後的夢如同"無人的女兒海媛"一樣，透過黃粱一夢的管道與自己(可能他者)和解，自身期望之事遙遙無期，此生可能無法完成了。

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Stilted dialogue and bland acting is all that's on offer in this snoozefest full of typically Korean talking-around-the-point. You'd be better off just listening in on conversations at your local café.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

john m

I was fixated on this all the way through, in awe, but also in complete bewilderment as to what the fuck is happening. Love Sang-soo's long takes and fly-on-the-wall style. I'm going to have to research and dissect this film more before coming up with a more informed opinion as it brings up a lot of ideas that just seem odd for the sake of trying to make you confused, which worked. What a strange film.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Intriguing, baffling yet illuminating, Hong Sang-soo's idiosyncratically autobiographical cinema is pure fodder for discerning cineastes. Rambling bore or piquant existential comedy? You decide.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

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Hong Sang-soo

Director

Kim Min-hee

Young-hee

Jung Jae-young

Myung-soo

Moon Seong-geun

Sang-won

Ahn Jae-hong

Seung-hee

Seo Young-hwa

Ji-Young

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Synopsis

After a publicized affair with her director, an actress leaves South Korea and goes to Hamburg, where she gains insight into the meanings of love and identity.

Director: Hong Sang-soo
Screenwriter: Hong Sang-soo
Distributor: Cinema Guild
Production Co: Jeonwonsa Film
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Korean
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 17, 2017, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 10, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA): $37.5K
Runtime: 1h 41m

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