According to A24, filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung’s drama Minari will be released in theaters on February 12 and will be available to stream beginning February 26. Though—just as a reminder—there’s still a pandemic going on and going to the movies remains unsafe, so go ahead and wait on that second date.
Minari is a semi-autobiographical Steven Yuen-led film about a family of South Korean immigrants who establish their lives on an Arkansas farm during the 1980s. With the film, Chung aspired to tell a story that would someday resonate with newborn daughter. In an interview with Paste, Chung shared that Minari also came to be because he took filmmaker Willa Cather’s words, about admiring the work of others rather than remembering one’s own lived experience, to heart.
Minari was one of the most acclaimed movies of 2020, winning the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance and topping Paste’s list of best films that year. Special praise has been given to Youn Yuh-Jung performance as the Yi family’s biting, sage grandmother—a role that’s already earned her a Best Actress nomination at the Gotham Independent Film Awards.