San Diego Asian Film Festival 2025
After clashing with the younger queer generation, proudly open lesbian bar-owner Manok returns to her hometown to face yet more prejudice, and take on her smarmy ex-husband, who is now the equivalent of town mayor.
South Korea enjoys a reputation for being a bit more open-minded than her Asian neighbors when it comes to homosexuality, but that is only a fairly recent occurrence. Parts of Seoul now have thriving LGBTQIA+ bars, clubs, and other establishments, some catering to more traditional Korean clientele and some more international, and all that is supposed to be all-inclusive. But historically, straight-laced and religiously repressed Koreans disapprove strongly of lesbianism, and will disown family members guilty of such actions. Frankly I would much rather be encased in the strange colorful love of the rainbow children, than smothered by the hate of their detractors, so make sure you know where your Pride flag is, and let’s get into this!
So Manok (Yang Mal-bok) runs Lainbow, the lesbian bar that has been the centerpiece for the Gay Pride celebrations for many years previous. But when the younger up-and-coming generation of rainbow kids want to have their Pride at a different establishment, and Manok recently got wind of her mothers passing, it’s time for a whole bunch of changes, and off Manok goes to her home rural home town of Iban-ri.
Manok’s controlling jerk of an ex-husband Cheol-ju (Park Wan-Kyu) is now remarried, has one closeted child, and has turned his controlling nature to the entire town, as their chief. The town elders are generally very conservative, and occasionally religious, folk, so the return of Manok, a known open lesbian, causes pearl-clutching scandal everywhere. The one spark of individuality and creativity happens to live in the town chiefs child, Jaeyon (K-pop singer Sung Jae-yun), assigned female at birth but now as they attempt to navigate high school and life in a crushingly nosy small town, Jaeyon is clearly a trans person and would much rather present, and live, as a boy.
Manok’s ex is determined to thwart her in every single thing she attempts in her hometown, throwing the weight of the cowed town council behind his spiteful actions, and eventually Manok has enough and decides to run for town chief herself. Why not? Because Manok is a -gasp- lesbian, it’s against Gods word, she’ll never have a child that way, blah blah blah. Manok is also smart, capable, determined, and somehow under the hardened layers of understandable armor she’s had to build over long years against homophobic assholes, Manok is also kind, and generous, and even loving on occasion.
With the surprise visit of Manok’s long-suffering girlfriend, the enthusiastic aid of Jaeyon and other younger townfolk fascinated by the life outside the repressed town Manok offers, and an influx of cheerful LGBTQ+ rainbow children who always fight hate with as much colorful love as possible, Manok and pals prepare to take on the current town chief directly!
The movie is a lovely little heartfelt dramedy that stresses on letting people be who they are and loving them, learning to include all their strange parts in your love, rather than condemning them for their differences and refusal to conform. No emphasis is placed on the very real possibility of bodily harm that can come when the rainbow folk attempt to take on the fanatical straight-laced, but honestly, reality is often bleak as hell, and we are enjoying the happy myriad of fantastical gay colors the movie presents instead.
Cheer on Manok and her queer cohorts, and let your freak flag fly, in Manok!