Raul Dancel

This is a quiet film, painted with a mix of both bright and muted colours that reflect the intense emotions that move it along amid the flow of the ordinary lives of people trying to bridge their present with their past. There is sadness, longing and regret that courses through every scene. It is about missed chances, and fate dealing a hand we never expect, or want, but must play till the very end. The movie ends as all great love stories do: in silence and a tearful goodbye. In one scene, Nora, the lead, delivers these lines that call to the movie's title: 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝐾𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑛. 𝐼𝑛-𝑌𝑢𝑛. 𝐼𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 "𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒" 𝑜𝑟 "𝑓𝑎𝑡𝑒". 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒. 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐵𝑢𝑑𝑑ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑚, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝐼𝑛-𝑌𝑢𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑏𝑦 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ, 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠. 𝐼𝑓 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐼𝑛-𝑌𝑢𝑛, 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠.

I thought this was just another vapid reality show about cooking. It's still about food somewhat, because it's about a down-and-almost-out restaurant in Chicago, and a gifted, but tortured, chef trying to keep it all together. But it's also a triumph of magnificent storytelling, flawless acting and glorious claustrophobia.

In 30 minutes, this little, quiet show will make you laugh, cry, and give you a reason to keep on breathing, no matter what. It'll break your heart into pieces, and then just as quickly put it back together, just to remind you what living is all about.

as how the new york times appraised it, it starts stronger than it finishes. i think the problem was that the villain was actually metaphysical: the monkey's paw, the price we pay for wish-fulfillment. the solution has to be metaphysical as well. it's not something a comic book superhero is built to deal with. they tried with diana's long monologue and max lord's expression of teary regrets in front of his son towards the end. but these resolutions are forced, contrived and don''t really work.