Happy Cleaners

2019

Action / Drama / Family

1
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 86% · 10 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 86%
IMDb Rating 6.8/10 10 152 152

Plot summary

When the Choi family lose their dry cleaning business, they learn to love each other to survive the crisis and heartaches that they cause each other.

Director

Julian Kim Photo
Julian Kim

Top cast

Lena Enck Photo
Lena Enck as Customer
Dax Richardson Photo
Dax Richardson as Mr. Han
Hyang-hwa Lim Photo
Hyang-hwa Lim as Mom
Jaeki Cho Photo
Jaeki Cho as Freddy
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
886.81 MB
1280*534
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 36 min
Seeds ...
1.61 GB
1920*800
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 36 min
Seeds ...

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by JohnDeSando

Fine companion to Minari and Parasite. Korean films on a roll.

Owning a dry-cleaning shop in NYC is challenging enough; a Korean-American family with intergenerational dynamics ramps up that challenge. Such is the chaotic Happy Cleaners, a Korean buffet of clashing ambitions set against an abiding family love that refuses to cave to the parochial interests of strong Mom (Hyang-hwa Lim), lovingly-lost Dad (Charles Ryu), sharp sister Hyunny (Yeena Sung), and rebellious Kevin (Yun Jeong).After 17 years in the same place, the family must give it up because of a lease not renewed by a young, brash landlord who sees them as a drag on his progressive ambitions. Not that that is enough disruption, for Kevin has dropped out of school, Hyunny has a boyfriend similarly out of school, Dad can achieve only fixing a boiler while trying to rein in his son, and Mom just tries what she best can do with the children, weak husband, and a losing business. Amidst these common challenges of an immigrant family are truths for displaced persons of all persuasions-how to fight the urge to be deferential to the ruling class (in this case the white landlord and a brash young white woman who pretty much extorts compensation from dad over questionable damage to her dress) and how to keep a family together during parlous times for people of color from foreign countries.The answer to survival turns on love, just as it does in another fine Korean-American tale, Minari. Happy Cleaners is more edgy and confrontative; Minari is quieter. Both echo the greatness of last year's Oscar winner, Parasite. Koreans know how to keep the emphasis on theme while telling an entertaining story that doesn't play to the star power of its actors.It's about sweet survival and the characters who survive with love.
Reviewed by hud-44215 10 / 10

Very real and relatable!

I really liked this movie. Do I dare say I liked it more than Minari? For me it was more relatable and hit upon so many things that I don't think Minari did for me. Disclaimer: my parents also owned a dry cleaners and I grew up in Flushing. Kudos to the team that wrote, produced and directed it and to the actors and actresses! I thought they did an amazing job. Thank you for giving me a film I can relate to. Btw where can I download the songs from the soundtrack?
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