Thirteen-year-old Ernest Chin lives and works at a sleazy hourly-rate motel on a strip of desolate suburban bi-way. Misunderstood by his family and blindly careening into puberty, Ernest befriends Sam Kim, a self-destructive yet charismatic Korean man who has checked in. Sam teaches the fatherless boy all the rites of manhood.
Directed by Michael Kang
IMDB
N/A
Letterboxd
3.5 / 5
Where to Watch
Cast
Sung Kang
Sam
Jade Wu
Ahma Chin
Samantha Futerman
Christine
Clint Jordan
Walter
Eleanor Hutchins
Gina
Ron Domingo
Hank
Jackie Nova
Shakira
Crew
Nathan Larson
Original Music Composer
Lisa Leone
Director of Photography
Miguel Arteta
Producer
Popular Reviews
6 reviews
Emily Conklin
8.0★ · 05/20/25
Poignant, funny, and overlooked </3
Poignant, funny, and overlooked </3
Teresa
7.0★ · 01/28/22
“Yep. 8 is great. Die at 12 -- you lived a full life. Anything after that’s just an insult.”
Because of the picture, I thought this was going to be animated somehow so I was a little disappointed at the start lol. His mentor should’ve taught him how to handle rejection because oof. I liked Sam up until I didn’t… I think the reasons are obvious. It made me sad that his character basically led up to nothing. Now, I’m either lacking understanding here or I was just never a teenage boy because Ernest started to become less likable as the story went on. I feel like it ended right as all the major conflicts came to a point… I dunno. It is what it is I guess. The very ending had me like 😮💨☹️🥺💔 though
“Yep. 8 is great. Die at 12 -- you lived a full life. Anything after that’s just an insult.”
Because of the picture, I thought this was going to be animated somehow so I was a little disappointed at the start lol. His mentor should’ve taught him how to handle rejection because oof. I liked Sam up until I didn’t… I think the reasons are obvious. It made me sad that his character basically led up to nothing. Now, I’m either lacking understanding here or I was just never a teenage boy because Ernest started to become less likable as the story went on. I feel like it ended right as all the major conflicts came to a point… I dunno. It is what it is I guess. The very ending had me like 😮💨☹️🥺💔 though
