Underplayed Gems

Mongrels (2026)

Mongrels poster
Directed by
Jerome Yoo
Country
Canada
Runtime
1h 51m
Rated
15
Rating
4.0 of 10 from 1 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A Korean widower moves his two children to a small Canadian prairie town. He takes a job culling wild dogs that threaten local farms. He finds he connects more with the dogs than with the townspeople who see him as an outsider.

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What happens

Mongrels is a 2024 Canadian drama film, written and directed by Jerome Yoo in his feature directorial debut. The film stars Jae-Hyun Kim as Sonny, a Korean widower who emigrates to Canada with his children Hajoon (Da-Nu Nam) and Hana (Sein Jin) after his wife's death; moving to a small town in the Canadian Prairies where he takes a job helping local farmers to cull the wild dogs that are plaguing their livelihoods, he finds that his status as a newcomer to Canadian society means he can relate more easily to the dogs than to his fellow townspeople. The cast also includes Candyce Weir, Morgan Derera, Jedd Sharp, Sangbum Kang, Cassidy Karin, James Corwin Bryant, Katelyn Vanier, Joliana Francisco, Alan Ramon Ward, Megs Calleja, Duke Murrdodge, Chris Byron, Vivian Davidson-Castro, Ryan Haneman, Karen Hyeyeon Choi, Natasha Bruce and Charlotte Ray in supporting roles. The film premiered at the 2024 Vancouver International Film Festival, where Yoo won the Horizon Award for Emerging Canadian Director. It later received the FIPRESCI Prize and a Special Jury Prize for its cast at the 2024 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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