Smoking Tigers

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Smoking Tigers

2023

Directed by So Young Shelly Yo

Set in early-2000s SoCal, Smoking Tigers follows a Korean American girl as she navigates derision and growing tensions while balancing the duality of her low-income family and wealthy, elite high school environment.

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Kevflix And Chill
Review by Kevflix And Chill ★★★★

Excellent Korean-American coming of age drama anchored by an impressive lead performance from Ji-Young Yoo. Set in early 2000’s Southern California, Hayoung is an adolescent experiencing monumental changes. Her parents are newly separated, and both financially struggling. Living with her mother, they’ve downsized into a smaller house to a different part of town. But her mother insists on enrolling her in a prestigious academy to ensure she has the right doors opened for a good education. It’s here she meets Rose who introduces her to more experiences—boys, parties, drinking, cheating on exams, tattoos, etc. Hayoung navigates all this while trying to hide the fact that her family isn’t nearly as well off as the other students families. 
We all have…

adam g
Review by adam g ★★★½

cigarettes are cool and bad and i too have a complicated relationship with my father

bella_pechaty
Review by bella_pechaty ★★★★ Liked 1

This is Ladybird if the main character actually had real problems 🤭

DamRibeiro
Review by DamRibeiro ★★★½ 2

Filha de imigrantes Coreanos Hayoung se encontra dividida entre querer permanecer no mesmo lugar e ser obrigada a mudar de qualquer forma, isso tanto psicologicamente como fisicamente, pois com o término das aulas em sua instituição Coreana nos Estados Unidos ela precisa decidir qual rumo tomar e qual faculdade deseja fazer, So Young Shelly em seu filme de estreia representa as angústias e a busca por um propósito em meio a tanta confusão, nesse Coming of Age tradicional bem adolescente questões como o primeiro amor, desilusão, família e amizade estão eclodindo rapidamente, seu ciclo é formado por alguns núcleos é todos esses jovens Coreanos que estão com ela lidam com essa adaptação e questões culturais de formas semelhantes, porém a linguagem…

Ali
Review by Ali ★★★★ 1

maybe i would Have given this movie more stars but it reminded me of the existence of the SAT. i am 23 years Old I don’t Need to Be reminded of That fuckass standardized test. you wouldn’t make a world War 2 guy go through the World War 2 again. still, there’s something so beautiful about this film, seeing someone struggle to balance her identities, trying to chase her idealized version of an “american dream” pushing last obstacles w/ unparalleled resilience.  16 year olds who spend their summer at california SAT prep centers are braver than the troops. i just know that lady was running that place like Guantanamo bay

viv
Review by viv 1

Not to be a poser but my friend is the main character in this and she literally won best performance at Tribeca

joshrowley
Review by joshrowley ★★★★ Liked

Angsty; relatable; sad; short; tender; understated; unsentimental; well-shot.

WuisSnow
Review by WuisSnow ★★★ Liked

-odio el sabor pero me gusta el olor.
-por qué el olor?
-porque me recuerda a ti.

Movie Good or Movie Bad?
Review by Movie Good or Movie Bad? ★★★★ Liked

25th Maryland Film Festival
Film #3

Smoking Tigers’ ability to examine and dissect the model minority myth as a flawed and unrealistic expectation makes it feel like a necessary, and at times, obvious piece of Asian American cinema that is also covering new ground. The film beautifully captures the reflection and comparison our lead, Hayoung, experiences when meeting friends at SAT class and developing an understanding of her parents and their flaws, while also giving space to evoke a contemplative mood through the gorgeous pool shots and having her literally enter so many homes of so many others in the film. Best is when the film makes ample space for the silence of our main character and while I think the space made with family was incredible, I longed for more.

We are entering an Asian-American film renaissance and glad to witness it!

Manoj Panicker
Review by Manoj Panicker ★★★★ Liked

Lady Bird, The Squid and The Whale, I See Electric Dreams...you can see elements of most coming of age dramas in So Young's feature debut.

But what makes 'Smoking Tigers' stand out so much is the subtlety and depth in not just Hayoung's arc, but also in the characters around her. Set in what I guess is Southern California, the story gives an exploration of the mistakes we often make as teenagers, as Hayoung enrolls for a special academic program to boost her SAT score. Amidst her parents living separately and having to share her time with both of them, Hayoung finds comfort in her dad's presence as she faces the Asian parental pressure from her mother in her studies.…

kaiheps
Review by kaiheps ★★★ Liked

wish this had a more distinct script. solid family drama, but treads a lot of familiar ground - and the teen melodrama segments were extremely cliche. i did really enjoy the film’s quietness; films should be more quiet! the visuals were tame but pleasant

Isabella Areal
Review by Isabella Areal ★★★½ Liked

crescer também é, para além de tudo, humanizar nossos pais.