FILM REVIEW:
WHAT DOES THAT NATURE SAY TO YOU (South Korea 2025) ***
Directed by Hong Sang-soo
WHAT DOES THAT NATURE SAY TO YOU is the latest film from South Korean director Hong Sang-soo, considered one of the most distinctive contemporary filmmakers. His films often look simple on the surface, but they have a very recognisable style and philosophy.
WHAT DOES THAT NATURE SAY TO YOU (2025) is a South Korean comedy-drama by Hong Sang-soo about a 30-something, struggling poet named Donghwa (Ha Seongguk). He takes his girlfriend, Junhee (Kang Soyi), to meet her parents at their suburban home, where he spends a long, drunken day with them that ultimately leads to the unravelling of his romantic and artistic ideals
Hong Sang-soo’s films are deemed ‘special’ because they turn ordinary conversations and small moments into philosophical cinema—using repetition, awkward humour, and minimalist filmmaking to explore how people misunderstand each other.
The repetitive part of the director Hong is immediately noticeable at the start of the film. Junhee mentions to her boyfriend that her father built the house for her grandmother, not twice but three times. There is a lot of dialogue before Donghwa is invited to the house.
There are different ways of showing the love between a couple in a film. One is to watch a passionate kiss between the two lovers. Another is the profession of love between the two, and yet another might be an erotic sex scene. In Hong’s film, the love between Donghwa and Junhee is shown by a quiet conversation between Junhee’s father and Donghwa. The father first talks about his love for his wife, and this is followed by Donghwa saying that he loves his daughter. When the couple are shown in the film before this moment, there is not a whole lot of affection shown in one form or another.
The film unravels in unnamed chapters, 1, 2, 3 and so on, offering different stages of the evening. The film, as in all of director Hong’s other films, is a slow burn. The pleasure to be obtained is often in the observations that the audience makes and not from any action scenes. Patience is a virtue and is definitely required here to appreciate Hong’s film. But it must be said that a lot comes from the actors’ performances as well. If a character gets annoying, as Junhee’s father occasionally does, the film gets annoying too.
Whether one can enjoy Hong’s film depends on the individual. For that reason, the film WHAT DOES THAT NATURE SAY TO YOU is given 3 stars (out of 5). There is nothing really distinctive between this film and Hong’s other films that would warrant it an extra star. Or anything really awful for the film to be considered a failure. It is a Hong Sang-soo film, and his fans will get what they expect.
WHAT DOES THAT NATURE SAY TO YOU is in itself a question that is posed to the audience to answer as the film progresses.
WHAT DOES THAT NATURE SAY TO YOU screens in Toronto at the Bell Lightbox on April 2nd.
Trailer:
