Loosely based on Chang-rae Lee’s 1995 New Yorker essay about returning home to care for his dying mother, “Coming Home Again” centers on a young Korean American aspiring writer named Chang-rae (Justin Chon), who quits his Wall Street job to help care for his ailing mother (Jackie Chung). Revolving around preparations for an elaborate New Year’s Eve dinner including the traditional Korean short rib dish kalbi, the film moves slowly, as Chang-rae cooks for a parent whose stomach cancer means she can barely eat, confronts his father (John Lie) about infidelity and argues with his sister (Christina July Kim). The rest is mostly highly internalized, as memories of Mom — bickering with her son about whether it was wise to send him away to Exeter in high school — seem to materialize alongside the nearly bedridden real version of the woman. Thanks to Chon’s mostly underplayed performance and un-showy direction by Wayne Wang, whose résumé swings between “The Joy Luck Club” and “Because of “Winn-Dixie,” the emotions accumulate nicely, with a subtle payoff about the ways we are shaped, both by our parent’s gifts and their mistakes. Unrated. Available at virtualavalon.org and afisilver.afi.com. Contains brief strong language and drug references. In English and some Korean with subtitles. 86 minutes.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/october-23-new-streaming-movie-roundup/2020/10/21/d0aef30c-0f57-11eb-8a35-237ef1eb2ef7_story.html