80
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91The PlaylistJessica KiangThe PlaylistJessica Kiangwhether because of its personal nature, its occasional ferocity, its unusually dark undercurrents, its audacious defiance of expectation and explanation or Kim Min-hee’s essential performance, On The Beach At Night Alone feels like it will be exceptional even for longtime diehard Hong fans.
- 91The Film StageRory O'ConnorThe Film StageRory O'ConnorOn the Beach at Night Alone, a bittersweet tone poem from South Korean writer-director Hong Sang-soo, thinks many a thought about the universe and the future, mostly expressed through nature and the characters’ anxieties about growing old.
- 90Village VoiceBilge EbiriVillage VoiceBilge EbiriKnowing the real-life inspiration for On the Beach at Night Alone may help one appreciate the film’s moral trajectory a bit better. But the movie’s charms work on a much more immediate level, in the way it captures the ever-shifting dynamic between men and women, and the difficulty of matching one’s feelings to one’s words.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungThe Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungThe story is scarce to non-existent, but Kim Min-hee in the main role keeps the audience awake, waiting for her next socially uncensored outburst of truth.
- Kim Min-hee, especially, gives another stellar performance.
- 80The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottMs. Kim is simultaneously an ordinary woman and a melodramatic heroine, her performance made more layered and intriguing by the intimation that she may be playing herself.
- 75Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenHong Sang-soo simultaneously positions filmmaking as the ultimate act of atonement and evasion, eviscerating himself so that he may live to stage several more films about the futility of getting hammered and worshipping and bedding gorgeous young women.
- 75The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloIt’s also somehow simultaneously one of his (Hong Sang-soo) most straightforward, emotionally direct movies and the weirdest damn thing he’s ever made.