79
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91The Film StageLeonardo GoiThe Film StageLeonardo GoiSlow-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.
- 90The New YorkerRichard BrodyThe New YorkerRichard BrodyThe 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.
- 88Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenA 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.
- 83The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyBut 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.
- 83The PlaylistJoe BlessingThe PlaylistJoe BlessingCombined 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.
- 80Screen DailyAllan HunterScreen DailyAllan HunterThe forlorn feel of Hotel By The River becomes increasingly endearing, and there is a strain of bone dry humour that lightens the mood.
- 75IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichThe 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.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijThe Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijThe sorrowful situations are frequently laced with chuckles,
- 70The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThe New York TimesBen KenigsbergHotel 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.