Seoul Searching

Seoul Searching is a 2016 American comedy-drama set in Seoul, Korea written and directed by Benson Lee and starring Justin Chon, Jessika Van, Cha In-pyo and Teo Yoo.

Seoul, 1986. A raucous gaggle of foreign born Korean teenagers spill out of the Gimpo airport and onto buses that transport them to a location just outside the city. There, these high schoolers sent from all over the world—the U.S., Mexico, London, and Hamburg—are participating in a government-sponsored summer program to help them connect with their heritage. With a summer of partying ahead of them, they're on a crash course to bring shame to their families, their ancestors, and their hosts—but with any luck, they might just figure out how to make friends, fall in love, and absorb some of their roots along the way. (Sundance Institute)

The film made its worldwide premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2015.

The film was then released in theaters in New York City on June 17, 2016. It was also released in theaters in Los Angeles on June 24, 2016. The film was also shown at the Regal Medlock Crossing 18 in Johns Creek, Georgia from August 5 to August 11 of 2016.

Netflix acquired the streaming rights of the movie in Winter 2016 and released it December 2017 worldwide. It has been dubbed and/or subtitled in over 15 languages.

Since its release in December 2017 on Netflix, the film has topped over 30 the "Best of Netflix" lists and in 2021 alone it topped the "Best of Netflix" lists in over 10 publications including: PopSugar, OprahDaily.comOprah Magazine, Town & Country (magazine), Seventeen (American magazine), Teen Vogue

The film has a 75% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com awarded the film three stars. Stephanie Merry of The Washington Post gave it two stars out of four. Timothy Tau of IndieWire graded the film an A−.

The New York Times gave it a "NYT Critics Pick" in 2016.