Set in the 1980s, Minari is the story of Yi family who have migrated from South Korea to USA in search of a better life.
Jacob(Steven Yeun) and Monica (Han Yeri) are husband and wife who have been working as chicken sexers for a decade. They decide to move from California to Arkansas because Monica was too slow (chicken sexer) for California.
They move into a trolley house with 50 acres of land around. Jacob has an aspiration to become a farmer of Korean vegetables, as more and more Koreans are immigrating to USA. But, Monica is not happy with it because of their poor financial condition.
Monica’s mother, Soon-ja(Youn Yuh-jung) comes from South Korea to look after her kids, Anne(Noel Cho) and David(Alan Kim). David is the younger one and has a weak heart. That is why, he’s always instructed by his parents to not do even small physical activity like running.
In this family of 5, Jacob and Monica are often fighting over money, farm and family. American-born David doesn’t get along with his granny because she ‘smells like Korea’ and doesn’t fit into his American idea of a Grandmother. Anne has to act like a mature person taking care of her sick younger brother and dealing with old granny.
David soon develops affection towards granny after she teaches him to play cards, takes him to walk around the woods and plants ‘Minari’ near the creek with him.
‘Minari’, as the Grandma says, grows anywhere, under any condition.
In this hustle for survival, there comes a point where Jacob has to choose between his dream and family, whereas Monica has to make a hard decision to choose between kids and Jacob.
This Golden Globe winner movie isn’t centered towards one person. It tells everyone’s side of the story. What this movie unfolds is the realistic survival story of many such people in the world.
Minari has won several awards including a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. It has bagged six Oscar nominations this year.
Watch trailer for Minari here.
Neha Green 
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