Smoking Tigers

Play trailer

Smoking Tigers

Released Aug 16

1h 29m

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

11 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Set in Los Angeles in the early 2000s, Smoking Tigers is a portrait of a lonely 16-year-old Korean American girl named Hayoung who is taken under the wings of three wealthy students she meets at an elite academic boot-camp. As she falls deeper into their world, Hayoung works harder to hide her problematic family and lower-income background from her new friends, only to discover the bittersweet pains of adulthood that will forever shape her life.

Watch on Max

Stream Now

Louisa Moore

Screen Zealots

A family drama and coming-of-age story rolled into one, this is a film that gracefully acknowledges the complexities of relationships and the challenges of growing up with a touching authenticity.

Sep 2, 2024

Full Review

Amyana Bartley

QBP Reviews

Using outstanding imagery, this film softly lulls you into its world in a way that I’ve not seen done before.

Aug 27, 2024

Full Review

Julia Swift

My Champlain Valley

This soulful coming of age drama takes a while to grab onto the hearts of the audience, but once it does, it won't let go. The characters will follow you for days.

Rated: 7/10

Aug 23, 2024

Full Review

Josh Bell

Crooked Marquee

It's a well-crafted, heartfelt take on a reliable formula.

Rated: B+

Aug 20, 2024

Full Review

Paul Lê

Tales from the Paulside

Even when the film seems like it doesn’t accomplish anything right now, it delivers a considerable character study that will benefit a lot of viewers in the long term.

Rated: 3/5

Jul 23, 2023

Full Review

Siddhant Adlakha

JoySauce.com

A tale that’s as gentle as it is harrowing, and one that debuting writer-director So Young Shelly Yo tells with quiet, poetic grace.

Jul 3, 2023

Full Review

Read all reviews

Orange 5

Alright, I watched this on HBO Max, (which may be the culprit behind my beef with this movie). It is claimed that this film is in "English". Yet over 60% of the dialogue, is in Korean! There are no English subtitles. Especially when we see these deep conversations, between Hayoung and her dad, between Hayoung and her mom, etc. Clearly, there was struggle and trauma happening within this family, yet I was "left in the dark", not able to understand the conversations. As an American viewer, I sat through the whole thing. Very frustrating, I wanted to know what was going on! Would liked to have given this movie a better rating. Really, the only thing I could comprehend was body language, faces, and the English dialogue between Hayoung and the other English-speaking, rich kids at the school. Therefore, from what I have seen, this movie is only geared for Korean-Americans, who are fluent in both languages. Everyone else, you will be very frustrated trying to watch this movie.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

09/19/24

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

So Young Shelly Yo

Director

Ji-young Yoo

Hayoung

Jun-ho Jeong

Appa

Jung Joon-ho

Actor

Abin Andrews

Umma

Erin Choi

Ara

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

Plaza Catedral

100%

77%

Plaza Catedral

Watchlist

Chaperone

100%

%

Chaperone

Watchlist

Riceboy Sleeps

97%

90%

Riceboy Sleeps

Watchlist

Sometimes I Think About Dying

82%

67%

Sometimes I Think About Dying

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Sometimes I Think About Dying

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Set in Los Angeles in the early 2000s, Smoking Tigers is a portrait of a lonely 16-year-old Korean American girl named Hayoung who is taken under the wings of three wealthy students she meets at an elite academic boot-camp. As she falls deeper into their world, Hayoung works harder to hide her problematic family and lower-income background from her new friends, only to discover the bittersweet pains of adulthood that will forever shape her life.

Director: So Young Shelly Yo
Producer: Guo Guo
Screenwriter: So Young Shelly Yo
Distributor: Untold Stories
Production Co: Sessions Production Payroll
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 16, 2024, Limited
Runtime: 1h 29m

Most Popular at Home Now