After its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023 and playing other fests through the past year, Hur Jin-ho‘s “A Normal Family” will touch down in North America in April, as Room 8 Films prepares for launch with a first trailer.
Starring Sul Kyung-gu, Jang Dong-gun, Kim Hee-ae and Claudia Kim, the provocative Korean drama follows a wealthy lawyer, who decides to defend a killer, being confronted by his righteous brother over a heated dinner conversation. The dueling personalities resurface the family’s unspoken tensions. The film is an adaptation of Dutch author Herman Koch’s “The Dinner,” first published in 2009 before becoming an international bestseller. It’s been adapted numerous times before, including in 2017 as an American drama starring Richard Gere, Steve Coogan, Laura Linney and Rebecca Hall.
“A Normal Family” marks Hur’s return to feature directing after last helming “Forbidden Dream” in 2019 and expanding into television. He made his feature debut with “Christmas in August” in 1998.
After its world premiere at TIFF in 2023, Variety chief film critic Peter Debruge wrote “A Normal Family” is so “morally ambiguous that it makes for an unpredictable ride, right up to the film’s abrupt but darkly poetic smash ending.” Since then, the film has played more than two dozen global festivals, including industry gatherings in Palm Springs, Vancouver, Rio de Janeiro and London.
Room 8 Films will release “A Normal Family” to theaters in New York and Los Angeles on April 25, with additional locations and markets to follow. The independent film label first launched in July 2024 and is looking to expand international sales in the coming months.
Watch the trailer for “A Normal Family” below.
