76
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90Village VoiceSam WeisbergVillage VoiceSam WeisbergThere have been upbeat coming-out films (But I'm a Cheerleader) and tragic, infuriating ones (Boys Don't Cry, Brokeback Mountain). Andrew Ahn's Spa Night is executed on a significantly smaller scale, a deliberately anticlimactic one, which makes it all the more doleful.
- 90The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenThe film is a contemplation of the loneliness, tension and anxiety of outsiders pursuing a piece of the American dream.
- 80TheWrapSam FragosoTheWrapSam FragosoNeither obtuse nor obvious, Spa Night finds the perfect balance in communication. It shows enough, but not too much; it articulates its ideas, but it doesn’t asphyxiate the audience with them.
- 75Slant MagazineMatt BrennanSlant MagazineMatt BrennanIt recombines elements of the emigrant saga and the coming-of-age story into a searching, fresh-faced portrait.
- 75The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThough it leaves too many narrative blanks unfilled, Spa Night is a promising debut from a filmmaker with a lot of insight into the different guises that immigrants and their offspring wear as they make their way through the world.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijThe Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijThough more mainstream-oriented audiences will not be on board with Ahn’s brand of subtlety, for those willing to fully invest themselves, Spa Night offers a carefully considered story about identity or rather identities.
- 70VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeSpa Night serves as an homage to the sacrifices first-generation immigrants made in order that their children could achieve their full potential in the States, expanding the concept of “pride” far beyond its protagonist’s gay identity.
- 67IndieWireKate ErblandIndieWireKate ErblandThe beautifully lensed drama is, like its protagonist, compelled and often obsessed by the human shape and form, and Ahn’s film artfully uses the physical to tell a mostly standard issue coming-of-age story with style.
- 60The GuardianNigel M SmithThe GuardianNigel M SmithDespite its setting and Korean American cast, Spa Night unfurls in a largely expected manner, with David struggling to embrace his identity because of his strict religious upbringing, while trying to make his family proud. He’s portrayed so opaquely that’s it’s difficult to connect with his dilemma.
- 58The Film StageDaniel SchindelThe Film StageDaniel SchindelIt’s nice that Spa Night has a story with a different kind of protagonist than what we’re used to, but it tells that story with all the lackluster waffling of any other shaky indie drama.