Review: Critically-acclaimed Korean-American film Minari is a gorgeous watch

The critically-acclaimed Korean-American film Minari has finally landed in New Zealand cinemas and is the perfect excuse to head to your local cinema this weekend.

It's a much-hyped film that delivers. Minari is here, and with it the opportunity to be entirely transported.

Set in the 1980s we journey into rural Arkansas with Jacob and Monica as they relocate their small family from California with dreams of a new life.

It's immediately apparent, to Monica at least, this new life will not be easy.

This is a semi-biographical story from Lee Isaac Chung, himself a son of Korean immigrants to America, and is steeped in an instinctive authenticity that comes from living it.

The traditional notion of family set against the backdrop of both cultures and against the backdrop of the '80s makes the relationships incredibly compelling, and even more so when grandma joins them from Korea.

There is such tenderness in the telling here, helping to bolster your resilience as this story deals out some punishing emotional blows amidst the moments of pure delight delivered in the cracks and crevasses of family life. A simply gorgeous watch.

Four-and-a-half stars.