Bedford Park (2026) – Review and Summary [Sundance]

What if there was only a 5% chance you’d find the perfect person for you, and you met at the least perfect time of your lives?

ByAmari Allah Hours Posted on

Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.

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“Bedford Park” Film Details

Movie Summary

Audrey is a first-generation Korean woman, around 36, and she works as a physical therapist in New York. Eli is around the same age, also a first-generation Korean American, but he was adopted as a kid, and while he wants to work as a social worker, he is a security guard. Both have recent pasts which, paired with some good old childhood trauma, complicate their relationships, whether romantic, platonic, or familial.

However, even with the circumstances surrounding their meeting being far from ideal, there seems to be a chance for them. But, considering how much work it may take for them to sustain feelings they struggle to manage, will this only work when it is convenient or fall apart once it requires both to get serious?

Cast and Characters

Audrey (Moon Choi)

  • Character Summary: Being raised in a traditional Korean household, with a father who pushes the idea that her mom convinced him to immigrate, put a toll on Audrey. It makes it so, a lot of what she remembers as a kid is arguments, her father’s ego trying to heal, and his anger. This hasn’t made her jittery as an adult, but has made it so she struggles with close connections and also a sense of shame from not making her parents’ sacrifice worth it. For while a physical therapist is a respected job, her parents embellish and say she is a doctor, often showing, even in subtle ways, that she didn’t reach the dreams they had for her.

Eli (Son Sukku)

  • Character Summary: With a mixed experience growing up, from being raised in a Korean household to an American one, Eli had some struggles with identity that carry over into adulthood. However, being Korean enough isn’t one of his main focuses, as much as it is trying to figure out not only how to be an adult who is independent, doing something fulfilling, and not buying time, but also worthy of his daughter’s love and attention.

Review and Commentary

Highlight(s)

The Weight Of Either Not Having Someone Who Feels Like Home Or A Place Which Feels Like It [83/100]

One of the key takeaways we got from Bedford Park is the need to feel, to relax your nervous system, and get a chance to, not reset but simply be. Eli, with appreciating his adoptive parents, but not necessarily have a loving bond with them, lacks that. They aren’t Korean, so they don’t feel like home culturally. Also, between his stepbrother, with whom he doesn’t have the best relationship, a stepfather he hates, and a mom who loves him but excuses his stepbrother’s and stepfather’s behavior, there isn’t that connection.

And you’d think, with having a daughter, he’d almost use her for a crutch for a sense of belonging, but there is a disconnect. He knows what a father should do, in terms of being a provider, but with no example in his life, he doesn’t understand how to even be a home for a child, beyond trying to provide financially. Then with Audrey, there is something similar.

With her, her family is Korean culturally; they speak the language at home, and while there are some aspects she doesn’t agree with, there is familiarity. But what becomes clear as the movie goes on is that knowing someone’s patterns, understanding their story, doesn’t create a sense of home.

This is why you can easily become so invested in Audrey and Eli’s relationship, for while there are some bumps in the road, like Eli sometimes feeling like he has to prove he is Korean enough, then there is the lack of judgement, the seeking of understanding, and the ability to be open without retribution. Despite both not having that ideal version of home, and seemingly being unable to give that to others, as they would like, they discover it isn’t the inability to find it or make it, but rather the right person who will build that with them. Which leads to, especially for Eli, quick and notable growth that can lead to an emotional ending.

On The Fence

Eli’s Neighbors Make You Want Them More Integrated Into The Story [78/100]

Eli’s neighbors aren’t just people who wave; he may move trash cans for them, and that’s it. The father, or grandfather, he knows well enough to take places, Eli has some grasp on his medical condition, and the daughter or granddaughter? They have a good enough relationship where, when Eli finds himself in need of feminine products, before he travels to the store, he goes to them.

Because of this connection, there are times when you feel that, even at a little over two hours, the two characters were cut for time either in the script or during filming, for there is more of an investment given than expected.

Sometimes Feeling Audrey Ended Up Mainly a Supporting Character In Other People’s Stories [77/100]

Being that one of the tags for this film is “Women-Centered Stories,” it can feel a bit weird how much Bedford Park feels more about Eli. I say this because, while the two do have separate lives, Audrey integrates into Eli’s life, and Audrey simply tells Eli about hers. On top of that, in Audrey’s life outside of Eli, yes it deals with her relationship with her mom, but then there is her dad, who her parents want her to date, her relationship with her brother, and it doesn’t often feel like it is centered on her life and experience.

It is about her mom’s social needs, especially as a Korean woman who wants the clout of both of her children doing well. It is about her dad’s struggles with being a man but not the breadwinner, and him still reeling from his life in Korea being more in line with what he wanted for himself vs. his life in America.

Which isn’t to say Audrey doesn’t have her own issues, like her boss and his cost-cutting measures, or reproductive issues Audrey has. But, maybe as a side effect of her trauma, it seems, the film is often more focused on who she can be for others than what they can be for her, and it makes the would-be female lead often feel like a supporting role with notable screen time.

Overall

Our Rating (79/100): Mixed (Divisive)

I think what causes a bit of a kink in Bedford Park is that you can tell, as much as Eli needed Audrey, the relationship isn’t balanced. He was a distraction, she a catalyst, and it does a disservice to her development and growth because of their dynamic. Which isn’t to say she got absolutely nothing out of their connection but, like Eli’s neighbors, there is this feeling that, there was so much to explore and we barely scratched the surface.

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Amari is the founder and head writer of Wherever-I-Look.com and has been reviewing media since 2010. He approaches each production with hope, rooting for every story to succeed, and believes criticism should come from unmet potential, while praise is reserved for work that meets or exceeds expectations.