Riceboy Sleeps

Riceboy Sleeps

October 6th

Anthony Shim Canada |

2022 | 117m | English, Korean

Winner, Best Canadian Film Award, Toronto Film Critics Association

Winner of Original Screenplay at the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards

Winner of the TIFF 2022 Platform Prize

Numerous key Canadian films have addressed the trauma of immigrating to this country, but few have been as emotionally devastating as Anthony Shim’s assured, moving Riceboy Sleeps. After losing her husband, So-young (Choi Seung-yoon) relocates to Canada in the 1990s with their young son, Dong-hyun (Dohyun Noel Hwang as a child, Ethan Hwang as a teenager) in tow. There, they must fight for acceptance and respect amidst a culture of racism. As they negotiate with their separate circumstances, the rift between mother and son grows.

Throughout, Shim expertly balances the very different perspectives of a boy and his mother, poignantly capturing his loneliness and frustration, her isolation and sacrifices. Compassionate and poetic, Riceboy Sleeps has the emotional scope of a classic Bildungsroman, signalling the arrival of a significant new Canadian filmmaker.