Lina Suh grew up in Korea; the American Midwest; and New York. She produced fiction shorts in New York and Los Angeles, and directed a short World Bank-issued humanitarian documentary in Cambodia distributed to developing countries. She taught screenwriting at ESRA (Ecole Superieure de Realisation Audiovisuelle) a French film school satellite in NYC, and directed short films “So F*cking Happy For You” and “Good Face” – later developed as a TV series with Sony and HBO Max. She is in development to create projects with an eye towards co-productions with Korea. She was the story editor on “DR. Brain”, Apple TV+'s first Korean series. “Meeting You, Meeting Me” is her first feature film as a writer and director.
Sav, a Californian college dropout searching for herself after being canceled online, is on her way to the airport for a travel around Asia, but before she reaches her destination, she needs to buy a used backpack from an ad posted by Simone, a Korean American divorce attorney who is very rooted in her immigrant family's upbringing. As the latter is obviously in a bad state, and the former has a lot of time before her flight, they start talking and eventually Simone invites her to her house. Over food, alcohol and cbd, the two come closer, eventually opening up even about rather intimate issues.
Lina Suh directs a movie that unfolds much like a stage play, since the whole thing takes place mostly in two locations, one of which, Simone's suburb house, is where the majority of the story occurs. Expectedly, “Meeting You, Meeting Me” is dialogue-heavy, and as such, the quality of this aspect is the make or break factor of the movie. Thankfully, Suh has come up with rather interesting lines, which result in both the viewer empathizing with the protagonist and a number of more general comments.
One of the reasons this aspect works is definitely the antithesis between the two women. Sav is in her 20s, social media savvy, rather open, a free-spirit in general, although somewhat immature if also a lot of fun, frequently exhibiting a kind of hippy mentality. Simone on the other hand, instigated by the Asian/Asian-American upbringing, has difficulties opening up, is timid, always careful with her choices and quite reluctant to take initiative, and barely deals with social media. Furthermore, in rather ironic fashion, Simone has just gotten a divorce while Sav seems to be having the time of her life with her Latino boyfriend. On the other hand, just as Simone is in psychological trouble due to her divorce, Sav also is facing issues through social media, since, after making an online comment that proved eventually rather tasteless, she has been canceled.
The way both their differences and their similarities bring the two women together is among the best aspects of the movie, with the way they gradually become friends being a truly treat to watch. Furthermore, that in the first part it is Sav who has a significant impact on Simone and the opposite happens in the second part, adds even more to this element, and to the overall entertainment the movie offers.
Furthermore, the way this antithesis allows Suh to talk about different aspects of different women living in the US also emerges as a big trait, particularly in the way it highlights the differences of Americans and Asian-Americans, but also their similarities.
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Some artistic ‘conveniences' do appear, however, throughout the story. The way Simone opens her house to a stranger is one of them, but the same applies to the appearance of the delivery guy and how this arc proceeds, as much as the way the second meeting takes place. Furthermore, the fight is somewhat abrupt and unconvincing to a point, and could have been handled better. Some cliches, as in the dancing occasionally in slow motion, could also have been omitted, although they do work well as a relief from the dialogue heavy premises of the movie.
On the other hand, the acting is on a very high level. Both Annika Foster as Sav and Sam Yim as Simone portray their characters with realism and thus, quite convincingly. The fact that they don't result in any kind of hyperbole, always retaining their sense of measure adds to their performance, while also highlighting their antithetical chemistry.
DPs Heyjin Jun and Dawn Suhyun Shim capture the various settings the story takes place in with realism, without any visual exaltation, essentially letting the dialogue and the characters shine. Yu Jung Hou and Daniele Joi's editing results in a mid tempo that suits the style of the narrative, while the cuts also induce the movie with a very needed sense of motion.
Despite some issues with the writing here and there “Meeting You, Meeting Me” emerges as an accomplished film, both entertaining and intriguing and definitely a hopeful debut for Lina Suh.
