Synopsis

In his ninth film for Hong Sangsoo, Kwon Haehyo plays Byungsoo, a film director who goes with his daughter Jeongsu (Park Miso), an aspiring interior designer, to a building owned by an old friend (Lee Hyeyoung) already established in the design field. She gives them a tour of the property, which includes a restaurant and cooking studio on the first two floors, her office in the basement, a residence on the third floor and an artist’s studio at the top. The three of them amicably chat the day away. But when his daughter leaves to get more wine, Byungsoo is left to spend time with the landlord and the other residents of her building.

With Walk Up, Hong Sangsoo returns to an interest in structure that has been a defining characteristic of his work from the beginning. And this time the structure is a literal one. As Byunsgoo makes his way up the floors of the building, Hong fills these spaces with a profusion of everyday details spanning art, love, career, religion, dietary decisions and home renovations.

Trailer

Film Details

Director: Hong Sangsoo
Studio: Cinema Guild
Running Time: 97 minutes
Country: South Korea
Release Year: 2022
Rated: Unrated

Reviews

“One of Hong’s richest fables to date… A remarkably tender film.”
-Jonathan Romney, Screen

“[A] benignly sozzled, black-and-white delight… a new flight of fancy up every flight of stairs.”
-Jessica Kiang, Variety

“A film of gently discombobulating pleasures, constructed with a care and intricacy that never hinders the life, spontaneity and sense of possibility bursting out of every frame.”
-Justin Chang, The Los Angeles Times

“Astounding… Hong is an independent filmmaker of an absolute sort.”
-Richard Brody, The New Yorker

“With each new film, Hong Sang-soo’s work becomes more subtextual, more fraught, even funnier.”
– Chuck Bowen, Slant Magazine

“The remarkable achievement of Walk Up is that Hong manages to accommodate both… a linear, behaviorally coherent chronology and a metaphysical image of simultaneously coexisting presents.”
– Lawrence Garcia, In Review Online