Hotel by the River

Hotel by the River (강변호텔, 2019) is a South Korean black-and-white drama you can watch online on iFILM, written and directed by Hong Sang-soo.

An aging poet named Younghwan has taken a room at a hotel on the frozen Han River. He feels his death is close and calls his two estranged sons — men he has barely spoken to in years. Two women are staying at the same hotel; one of them is recovering from a betrayal by her lover. The poet spots them from across the courtyard, and the film lets these separate griefs drift around each other.

Hong Sang-soo builds his films from small observations rather than plot — conversations that circle, silences that mean something. Hotel by the River is among his quietest works: winter light, black-and-white, and Kim Min-hee in a performance that earns every quiet second. Stream Hotel by the River (2019) online on iFILM.