Hotel by the River
Cinema Guild | Release Date: February 15, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
79
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The Film StageLeonardo GoiSep 5, 2018
Slow-paced and meditative, Hotel by the River is a director’s plunge into a milieu where chuckles go hand in hand, often to ambiguous and conflicting extents, with a melancholic bracing for death. Read full review
90
The New YorkerRichard BrodyFeb 14, 2019
The brisk and lyrical action, filmed in chilly black-and-white tones, is adorned with eccentric, symbolic details; the petty stuff of daily life shudders with stifled conflict and looming calamity. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineChuck BowenSep 5, 2018
A story of a poet, Hotel by the River comes to resemble a poetry collection itself, abounding in emotional currents and grace notes that are bracingly allowed to hang, free of reductive explication. Read full review
83
The PlaylistJoe BlessingFeb 14, 2019
Combined with a narrative with a more defined ending, this darker tone suits Sang-soo’s minor-key ruminations, injecting more tension and pathos into his trademark conversations. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyFeb 12, 2019
But despite its wry tone, the movie offers, in the character of Young-hwan, one of the filmmaker’s more caustic artist stand-ins. The aging sadsack poet can’t see anything outside of himself. Read full review
80
Screen DailyAllan HunterSep 6, 2018
The forlorn feel of Hotel By The River becomes increasingly endearing, and there is a strain of bone dry humour that lightens the mood. Read full review
80
VarietyGuy LodgeSep 6, 2018
As a forlorn kind of hangout movie, then, Hotel by the Sea proceeds at a pleasing shuffle, spiked with bittersweet humor and even a gentle, surprising hint of sentimentality. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiFeb 27, 2019
The director is notorious for not having a working script, writing the day’s scenes the morning of, and improvising at any given moment. The internet tells me that this film was shot in two weeks, and while Hong’s off-the-cuff style seems restless at times, it coagulates like a small scab that never quite stops itching. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyFeb 16, 2019
Such is the nature of this movie. It’s like a series of charcoal sketches with marginalia; there are unexpected mini-flashbacks, and even a visualization of a poem. Hong’s free style isn’t showy; there’s a stillness holding the film together at all times. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichOct 9, 2018
The relatively gentle, meditative, and straightforward Hotel by the River is like everything and nothing that Hong has made before; to say that it’s “just another Hong” movie is an accurate way of emphasizing what makes it special. Read full review
70
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergFeb 14, 2019
Hotel by the River is — surprisingly, from the standpoint of a skeptic — one of Hong’s most unexpectedly poignant works, self-reflexive in a way that feels searching rather than rote. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijSep 6, 2018
The sorrowful situations are frequently laced with chuckles, Read full review
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