'Spa Night' Puts Gay Asian-Amerins Front and Center

REVIEW: WRTLG WH GAY INTY AND PARENTAL WISH ‘SPA NIGHT’
‘SPA NIGHT’ REVIEW: GAY KOREAN COMG-OF-AGE DRAMA FDS RONANCE UNLIKELY PLAC
WORK UP A SWEAT WH NEW GAY INDIE DRAMA "SPA NIGHT"STEAMY!{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}MOVIBY CHRISTOPHER RUDOLPHAUGT 16, 2016/3:54 PMBY CHRISTOPHER RUDOLPHAUGT 16, 2016 / 3:54 PM{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","HEADLE":"WORK UP A SWEAT WH NEW GAY INDIE DRAMA \"SPA NIGHT\"","DATEPUBLISHED":"2016-08-16T19:54:00.000+0000","DATEMODIFIED":"2016-08-16T19:54:00.000+0000","IMAGE":{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","WIDTH":1920,"HEIGHT":1080},"URL":","THOR":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"LOGO TV"},"MAENTYOFPAGE":{"@TYPE":"WEBPAGE","@ID":"},"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","@ID":","NAME":"LOGO TV","URL":","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT"}},"CREATOR":"CHRISTOPHER RUDOLPH","ARTICLESECTN":"MOVI"}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}GRAB A TOWEL AND GET READY FOR THE HEAT ANDREW AHN'S NEW FILM, SPA {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}THE SUNDANCE FAVORE AND OUTFT SELECTN FOLLOWS DAVID CHO (JOE SEO, WHO WON THE SPECIAL JURY AWARD AT SUNDANCE FOR HIS PERFORMANCE) A SHY TEENAGER WHO TAK A JOB AT A LOL KOREAN SPA LOS ANGEL THAT HE SOON DISVERS IS A SECRET CISG SPOT FOR {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}OVER THE URSE OF WORKG NIGHT SHIFTS AT THE ALL-MEN'S SPA HE "BEGS TO REALIZE HIDN NER SIR THAT THREATEN HIS LIFE AS A DUTIFUL SON AND STUNT."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}DIRECTOR AHN REVEALED HIS SPIRATN FOR THE PERSONAL FILM:{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"A FEW YEARS AGO, I DISVERED THAT SOME KOREAN SPAS LOS ANGEL HAVE BEEN APPROPRIATED AS A SPACE FOR UNRGROUND GAY SEX. A IEND OF ME TOLD ME OVER DRKS WT HOLLYWOOD THAT HE HAD A 'HOT HOOK-UP' WH A GUY A KOREAN SPA. THIS DISVERY FELT BOTH SACRILEG AND THRILLG AT THE SAME TIME. IT IS VERY EASY FOR ME TO SEPARATE MY INTI. I N EHER BE KOREAN OR GAY. NOW, THERE IS THIS PLACE WHERE I HAVE TO AL WH MY INTI AT THE SAME TIME."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}SPA NIGHT PREMIER AT METROGRAPH NEW YORK ON AUGT 19 AND WILL BE RELEASED L.A. ON AUGT {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}WATCH THE TRAILER BELOW:{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;DISPLAY:-WEBK-BOX;DISPLAY:-WEBK-FLEX;DISPLAY:-MS-FLEXBOX;DISPLAY:FLEX;-WEBK-BOX-PACK:CENTER;-WEBK-JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;-MS-FLEX-PACK:CENTER;JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;POSN:RELATIVE;PADDG-BOTTOM:56.49999999999999%;} .TWTER-TWEET-RENRED, {M-WIDTH:65%;WIDTH:TO !IMPORTANT;} {WIDTH:100%;} {MARG-LEFT:TO !IMPORTANT;MARG-RIGHT:TO !IMPORTANT;} IMG{MAX-WIDTH:100%;WIDTH:100%;} > IAME{BORR:NONE;MAX-WIDTH:100%;} > *{MAX-WIDTH:NONE !IMPORTANT;POSN:ABSOLUTE;HEIGHT:100% !IMPORTANT;WIDTH:100% !IMPORTANT;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;CLEAR:BOTH;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;MARG:0 TO;WIDTH:90%;M-WIDTH:288PX;MAX-WIDTH:1440PX;M-HEIGHT:194PX;}LATT NEWS
SPA NIGHT PUTS GAY ASIAN-AMERINS FRONT AND CENTER

REVIEW: WRTLG WH GAY INTY AND PARENTAL WISH ‘SPA NIGHT’

A young Korean-Amerin man works to rencile his obligatns to his stgglg immigrant fay wh his burgeong sexual sir the unrground world of gay hookups at Korean spas Los Angel. * spa night gay film *

18, 2016Bee David Cho (Joe Seo), the glum, bashful 18-year-old protagonist of “Spa Night, ” is stgglg wh homosexual sire, would be easy to tegorize this ol, exquisely observant first feature by the Korean-Amerin filmmaker Andrew Ahn as a gay movie. David is a dutiful son and a gay kid yearng to be himself a muny where that is jt not done.

) he's gay. The film is admirable prentg the issu a gay kid fac an extremely specific environment, and for ristg a more nventnal storyle.

‘SPA NIGHT’ REVIEW: GAY KOREAN COMG-OF-AGE DRAMA FDS RONANCE UNLIKELY PLAC

* spa night gay film *

And the anxieti manift David’s dormant homosexualy. He keeps this element of his life hidn by takg a job at a spa Koreatown (“Spa Night” was shot on lotn Los Angel), where David fds surrept gay sex. A young Korean-Amerin man works to rencile his obligatns to his stgglg immigrant fay wh his burgeong sexual sir the unrground world of gay hookups at Korean spas Los Angel.

It's super gay, and unapologetilly so. Over the duratn of the film, David als wh the prsur of poverty, unrealistic expectatns om parents that believe him, the nsistent isolatn of livg immigrant muni, and his burgeong gay sir.

In se you thought beg gay was all dance clubs, new slang, hot fashn, easy sex, sassy pri and It-Gets-Better cheerleadg, Andrew Ahn's Spa Night ignor all that. It ncerns David Cho (Joe Seo), the 18-year-old son of Korean immigrants who his his gay feelgs om his parents, the outsi world and even, at tim, om himself. A movie about the psychologil closet may be unfashnable, but Spa Night helps to better unrstand the pths of gay inty.

WORK UP A SWEAT WH NEW GAY INDIE DRAMA "SPA NIGHT"STEAMY!{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}MOVIBY CHRISTOPHER RUDOLPHAUGT 16, 2016/3:54 PMBY CHRISTOPHER RUDOLPHAUGT 16, 2016 / 3:54 PM{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","HEADLE":"WORK UP A SWEAT WH NEW GAY INDIE DRAMA \"SPA NIGHT\"","DATEPUBLISHED":"2016-08-16T19:54:00.000+0000","DATEMODIFIED":"2016-08-16T19:54:00.000+0000","IMAGE":{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","WIDTH":1920,"HEIGHT":1080},"URL":","THOR":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"LOGO TV"},"MAENTYOFPAGE":{"@TYPE":"WEBPAGE","@ID":"},"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","@ID":","NAME":"LOGO TV","URL":","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT"}},"CREATOR":"CHRISTOPHER RUDOLPH","ARTICLESECTN":"MOVI"}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}GRAB A TOWEL AND GET READY FOR THE HEAT ANDREW AHN'S NEW FILM, SPA {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}THE SUNDANCE FAVORE AND OUTFT SELECTN FOLLOWS DAVID CHO (JOE SEO, WHO WON THE SPECIAL JURY AWARD AT SUNDANCE FOR HIS PERFORMANCE) A SHY TEENAGER WHO TAK A JOB AT A LOL KOREAN SPA LOS ANGEL THAT HE SOON DISVERS IS A SECRET CISG SPOT FOR {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}OVER THE URSE OF WORKG NIGHT SHIFTS AT THE ALL-MEN'S SPA HE "BEGS TO REALIZE HIDN NER SIR THAT THREATEN HIS LIFE AS A DUTIFUL SON AND STUNT."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}DIRECTOR AHN REVEALED HIS SPIRATN FOR THE PERSONAL FILM:{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"A FEW YEARS AGO, I DISVERED THAT SOME KOREAN SPAS LOS ANGEL HAVE BEEN APPROPRIATED AS A SPACE FOR UNRGROUND GAY SEX. A IEND OF ME TOLD ME OVER DRKS WT HOLLYWOOD THAT HE HAD A 'HOT HOOK-UP' WH A GUY A KOREAN SPA. THIS DISVERY FELT BOTH SACRILEG AND THRILLG AT THE SAME TIME. IT IS VERY EASY FOR ME TO SEPARATE MY INTI. I N EHER BE KOREAN OR GAY. NOW, THERE IS THIS PLACE WHERE I HAVE TO AL WH MY INTI AT THE SAME TIME."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}SPA NIGHT PREMIER AT METROGRAPH NEW YORK ON AUGT 19 AND WILL BE RELEASED L.A. ON AUGT {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}WATCH THE TRAILER BELOW:{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;DISPLAY:-WEBK-BOX;DISPLAY:-WEBK-FLEX;DISPLAY:-MS-FLEXBOX;DISPLAY:FLEX;-WEBK-BOX-PACK:CENTER;-WEBK-JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;-MS-FLEX-PACK:CENTER;JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;POSN:RELATIVE;PADDG-BOTTOM:56.49999999999999%;} .TWTER-TWEET-RENRED, {M-WIDTH:65%;WIDTH:TO !IMPORTANT;} {WIDTH:100%;} {MARG-LEFT:TO !IMPORTANT;MARG-RIGHT:TO !IMPORTANT;} IMG{MAX-WIDTH:100%;WIDTH:100%;} > IAME{BORR:NONE;MAX-WIDTH:100%;} > *{MAX-WIDTH:NONE !IMPORTANT;POSN:ABSOLUTE;HEIGHT:100% !IMPORTANT;WIDTH:100% !IMPORTANT;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;CLEAR:BOTH;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;MARG:0 TO;WIDTH:90%;M-WIDTH:288PX;MAX-WIDTH:1440PX;M-HEIGHT:194PX;}LATT NEWS

)There's enormo tensn when David observ the male spa ctomers--pecially the furtive gay cisg and steam-room hook-ups. This cleanls-is-next-to-Godls pantomime illtrat what David misunrstands about his own physil and spirual 's ndn is not one that pro-gay Korean stand-up ic Margaret Cho would joke about.

Ahn asserts his tegry the way Spa Night avoids gay polil rrectns. Closer sight to David's grasp of his parents' marriage may have let Ahn show how even heterosexual male role mols n affect a gay youth's behavr.

Instead, Ahn explor gay heartache--whout romanticism, even whout the sexual ambiguy of Taiwane director Tsai Mg Liang's masterful films about ablutns and asm such as the 1997 The River that featur an ctuo father-son sexual enunter a bathhoe.