A sparse, but fascinating three way South Korean character study, Joongha Park’s Small Fry is an intimate examination of three creative types with vastly different personalities and unspoken connections to one another colliding at an unlikely location.
Ho-jun (Howon Kim, who co-wrote the screenplay with Park) is a struggling actor who has found a surprisingly successful niche as a social media influencer known for his fishing tips and tricks. He’s about to film content at a fishing spot that comes highly recommended, when he’s rudely and continually interrupted by the only other person there, Nam (Seonghwan), an entitled, aloof, and artistically arrogant indie film director about to shoot his first major studio project. Nam isn’t there to fish, but rather to scope out the scenery and use the remote location for some alone time with Heejin (Chaeyoung Leem), an actress who’s keen to land the lead role in his upcoming film. When it becomes apparent that Nam has more than casting and script notes on his mind, Heejin asks the more kind-hearted Ho-jun to extend his fishing trip into the evening.
Small Fry has a simple premise and an even simpler location, but Park and Kim have built it around compelling, complex characters fighting for the same amount of space in the world. All three leads have exceptional dramatic chemistry between one another, fully capable of seeming like they’re bonding one moment and ready to be at each other’s throats the next. Small Fry is deceptively low key, but it doesn’t have to shout or resort to melodrama in order to make larger points about what it means to be taken seriously as a successful artist.
The atypical location of a not particularly picturesque fishing spot also allows Park to strip away any sense of artifice, leaving only unfiltered character and emotion. At every point, Small Fry is a wholly believable work that has a lot to say about searching for real emotions in an industry built upon lies and insecurities, and the things people are willing to give up for a profession where all praise comes across as fake or transactional. It’s not at all what I think anyone would expect from such a premise.
Small Fry screens as part of the 2023 Reel Asian Film Festival on Friday, November 10 at 5:30pm at TIFF Bell Lightbox.
Join our list
Subscribe to our mailing list and get weekly updates on our latest contests, interviews, and reviews.
Thank you for subscribing.
Something went wrong.
