I watched Smoking Tigers at the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival. Directed by So Young Shelly Yo, a Korean-American filmmaker, the film follows the life of Hayoung (Ji-young Yoo) in Los Angeles during the early 2000s. Hayoung is a sixteen-year-old teenager who is trying to fit in with her wealthy group of friends.

Yoo captured Hayoung’s desire to belong, a familiar feeling that many of us may have experienced in various social situations. Hayoung attempts to hide issues in her family from her friends. Although she attends a hagwon to prepare for college, her faHayoung mily struggles financially. Furthermore, Hayoung’s parents have separated, and she lives with her mother (Abin Andrews) and sister (Erin Choi) in a home that she is ashamed to show her friends. Although she enjoys spending time with her father (Jung Joon-ho), his irresponsible tendencies create cracks in Hayoung’s perception of him.

Hayoung befriends classmates but lies about where she lives in order to feel accepted. Her friends introduce her to new experiences that captivate her. Yearning for more moments to share with her friends and eager to fit in, Hayoung hides her whereabouts from her family and fabricates parts of her identity.

I was mesmerized by the cinematography of the film and the recurring motif of reflections. In one scene, Hayoung watches a smiling family enjoying a meal. She observes from afar through the back door while we see her reflection in the glass as she stares longingly at the family. Hayoung also imagines happy moments spent with her own family. One of my favorite scenes is when she recreates a dinner with her family in an empty home. The scene reveals Hayoung’s desires and gives viewers a glimpse of the thoughts that run through her mind.

Hayoung is drawn to her friendship with Rose (Erin Yoo), who appears to have fun and exciting lifestyle based on moments she spends with her at parties. In contrast to the lower-income background of Hayoung’s family, Rose doesn’t seem to share the financial concerns that she does. Hayoung fixates on these details that set her apart from her friends. Hayoung is oblivious to the pressures that Rose faces at home until she confides in Hayoung.

Hayoung also overlooks other aspects of her family while she is trying to fit in with her friends. For example, she is shocked when she finds a restaurant apron in her mother’s locker at the sauna, not realizing that her mother had taken on another job to care for her children. For Hayoung, it’s easy to get caught up in the images of how her friends are perceived because she looks for what she lacks instead of considering what she has – a family that loves her and attempts to support her.

Another aspect of the movie that I enjoyed was the mix of Korean and English used in different environments, such as when Hayoung is at home with her family or out with her friends. In fact, 70% of the dialogue was in Korean. At the end of the screening, I had the opportunity to participate in a Q&A panel with Shelly. In a way, the Q&A panel reflected the bilingual nature of the film. There was a translator during the session who spoke both Korean and English and translated for the audience and for Shelly.

One of the questions I asked Shelly was about how the title of the film was created. “There are a lot of reasons why we chose ‘Smoking Tigers’ but one of the reasons was – as you can watch in the film – there are a lot of reflections and this motif of visual reflections going off the entire film,” Shelly said. “I think a lot of Korean immigrants, when they come to America, they have this idea of reaching the American Dream and becoming successful and rich. But from my experience of growing up as a Korean American, I saw that it’s actually a very slim percentage that are able to reach this height and be very successful and rich.”

Shelly also said: “The rest of us are just struggling to live or just making it day by day. And so, I wanted this illusion of smoke and mirrors – that this idea of the American Dream can be an illusion for most of us and that it’s actually, success can only apply to a very small percentage. But despite that, we can still find hope and happiness. I wanted to push forth this idea of illusions with the title ‘Smoking Tigers.’”

Based on the scenes, it is immediately evident that Shelly takes the time to construct her characters with intention and build a unique atmosphere for each scene. She captures the tensions of navigating one’s identity in new environments. Smoking Tigers was Shelly’s directorial debut. She is a director, screenwriter, editor, and visual creative. Having received her B.A. from the University of California, San Diego and her M.F.A. from Columbia University, Shelly has created short films that have screened and received accolades at film festivals. I enjoyed watching her creative vision come to life and look forward to her future projects.