This was a happy find. I really liked the stories that were being told here. Mind you, they're very cliché stories but they're told from the Korean expat experience. Being a first generation daughter to a family of Latin American immigrants, I totally get what it's like to not be fully accepted in either culture; American and Latin American. From the nationalistic army head trying to prove his American-ness to the tough girl defending herself from toxic cultural machismo, these are all familiar stories I've seen within the Latin American community. The more I think about this film, the more smart observations I find that the writers added. If only more people realized how our experiences truly aren't that different, we'd really live up to the United in United States of America.

Just as the poster implies, theres a Korean Breakfast Club story being told here. The popular girl trying to act as sexually liberated as Madonna is actually a virgin, the punk troublemaker wants to be Sid Vicious and is also a virgin, the uptight preppy German boy falls in love with the basket case Korean girl who was adopted by a white couple in Ohio - you get what I'm saying. Though the stories seem cheesy on paper, it's actually fun to watch them at play in the film. The actors really get into their characters and play them fantastically. The actors playing the Korean camp instructors are very natural in their roles, especially the main one who has a heart to heart with the Sid Vicious character - he was really good and gave a very touching performance. My favorite performance though was by Esteban Ahn as Mexican Korean Sergio. He was so much fun to watch, every scene with him was hilarious and you could tell he really enjoyed the role.

What I loved best about this film is how it shows the Korean presence in every corner of the world. I initially thought it would only be Korean Americans coming to the Korean camp but theres an English Korean girl, a German Korean boy, and (my favorite) a Mexican Korean boy. I loved seeing these characters and hearing them explain their respective experiences, especially how the Mexican Korean boy doesn't know how to answer what "being Korean" means to him because he was raised in Mexico and identifies as nothing else but Mexican - he's obviously embraced and been embraced by the culture, it was really great to see and was a great contrast to the Korean American kids that quickly had answers.

As great as the story is and as much fun as this film was to watch, there were some things I couldn't overlook thus the 7 star rating. The movie really preys on the nostalgia factor, almost every 80's stereotype and reference came to play. The pastor's daughter "Madonna girl" was a crazy exaggeration. She not only dresses like Madonna, she has music numbers, even performs "Like a Virgin" with her twin roommates. She was a bit much, like I get it, she's the Madonna fan. This is the same case with the English preppy Korean girl and the Hip Hop crew. The soundtrack has 80s bop after bop after bop, but sometimes the song didn't really match the situation so it was just another nostalgia inducing device. Also I got lost wondering why the Hip Hop crew characters were immediately expelled and sent home for sneaking in alcohol, but there was no punishment for the army jock and the big conflict near the end of the film ?! Like why wasn't he sent home ? He nearly raped a girl. He also had caused problems throughout the trip, the instructors saw, why was this character forgiven ? And then the movie gives him a redemption arc, sort of, he basically explains why he acts the way he does to the Sid Vicious character at the end and we're supposed to forgive him I guess. I... I didn't find it fair that the little hip hop crew got punished but this character got away with so much and we're expected to forgive him ?! That is a story "uh-oh" that should've been mended. Also the dialogue could be unnatural in a lot of parts, for the sake of being outrageous and being totally 80's some of things they said came off more cringe worthy than anything, except Sergio's lines. Even some of his cheesy lines were forgiven because, again, his performance was gold.

The story of the Adopted Korean girl was my favorite of all the stories being told. We get to see the relationship between her and the Korean German boy gradually develop, we see how the two of them learn from each other. The scenes she has with her actual mother are really touching, especially when she goes to see her by herself. I love how even though they can't communicate with each other without the Korean German boy present to translate, the love is there and they have that special bonding moment. Just really good storytelling and presentation with this one.

I really enjoyed this film, flaws and all. It's a wonderful hidden gem on Netflix and I highly recommend it. So glad I watched this film.

I stumbled upon "Seoul Searching" while looking through the Asia movie collection on Netflix. I hadn't seen or even heard about this movie prior to finding it there and deciding to watch it.

I must admit that I had expected it to be just another teenage romantic comedy, but it turned out that I was in for something far greater and much deeper. This movie turned out to be quite entertaining on many different levels.

The characters in the movie were quite colorful and very varied, which leaves just about something for just about everyone in the audience. There were some characters that you took an instant liking to and some with an instant adversity towards. But there were also characters that felt cheated out of screen time and were nothing more than just fillers, which was a shame - such as the twins, for example.

This is a collection of various stories coming together as one entwined story, as Koreans from different countries abroad from Korea come together for a cultural summer camp in Seoul, to learn about their heritage.

I was especially taken in by the story of Sid and also the story of Kris. Sid's story was definitely one of personal growth and progress, whereas Kris's story was one of reunion and coming face to face with her past.

You might want to keep a tissue or two within reach, because there are some very emotional moments in the movie. I was taken aback by these and didn't except such excellence in direction from a movie such as this.

The movie was full of great talents, and I especially enjoyed the performances of Rosalina Lee (playing Kris),Justin Chon (playing Sid),Jessika Van (playing Grace) and last, but not least, In-Pyo Cha (playing Mr. Kim). The entire movie had a great cast, but these really stood out in my opinion.

"Seoul Searching" is the type of movie that will sink right in and stay with you for quite a while after the movie have ended. I was genuinely surprised and entertained by "Seoul Searching" and I can warmly recommend that you take the time to watch it if you haven't already seen it.

I just saw the World Premiere of this film tonight, and loved it. The entire audience did a 'wave' for the director before the movie, and stood up for his well-deserved standing ovation at the end.

Seoul Searching depicts teens from around the world exploring their relationship to their Korean cultural identity - at a summer camp in Seoul, Korea. (Cue mass quantities of alcohol.) Like any teen film, it explores relationships with parents, peers, and authorities, but what makes this one so enjoyable is that it is so specific and spot-on in illuminating the Korean cultural experience.

As a hapa Korean and Italian woman, it's rare that I see a film so dynamic in its representation of complex cultural issues. The movie was hilarious, yet, particularly in one un-subtitled scene, still able to touch the depths of a drama. It explored everything from Korea's held anger towards the Japanese to the DMZ to Korean multiracial adoptees, while challenging and flipping assumptions in funny and clever ways.

The director – who admitted an homage to John Hughes – hired mostly 'non-actors' who knew their characters from the inside, which worked. For example, the actor who played Sergio from Mexico was actually a Spanish-speaking Korean man culturally representing himself. This was true too, for the German-speaking Korean man from Hamburg. The cast was beaming – you could tell they loved being in the movie.

The only characters that didn't land for me were the 'rapper' guys, and the only assumptions that didn't move enough for me were those about Korean fathers. But there were so many other things that worked – including the solid 80's soundtrack – that it still made my night.