‘Happy Cleaners’ is a Korean-American family drama that centers the generational struggle of attaining the American dream for Korean immigrants and their children.
Kevin (Yun Jeong) and Hyunny (Yeena Sung) are first generation Korean Americans whose working class immigrant parents (Hyanghwa Lim and Charles Ryu) run a dry cleaning business in Flushing, New York. The Choi family are struggling paycheck to paycheck trying to get by. Kevin’s mother wants him to become doctor but he has dreams of moving to LA to pursue a culinary venture. Hyunny is a resident doctor whose parents often depend on to help pay bills. Hyunny is dating Danny (Donald Chung) who she is madly in love with. But he is also struggling to get by, working two jobs with not enough money to finish school and has an immigrant mother he’s also trying to take care of. Hyunny mother has high hopes for her, but she fears that Danny will not be able to provide a financially stable life for Hyunny if they decide to get married.
Kevin and Hyunny feel their mother is over bearing in trying to dictate important decisions in their life. But really, the Choi mother just wants her children to have a better life than the one she is currently living. Meanwhile, the Choi parents struggle to keep their drying cleaning business afloat in the face of their business lease not being renewed. They begin endless job searches in hopes of finding a sustainable income.
Happy Cleaners is about immigrant families trying to break the generational curse of working paycheck to paycheck with every generation hoping that the next one will not have to struggle like they did. Happy Cleaners also reveals two sides to the immigrant story: Immigrant parents who project their dreams onto their children and the children of immigrants who often feel burdened to help take care of their parents and fulfill their parents hopes for them, putting their own dreams on the back burner. Attaining the American dream is a prominent theme throughout the film. Happy Cleaners showcases the harsh reality of immigrant life in America.
While the film showcases the bleakness of the immigrant struggle and the disillusionment of the American dream, the brightest parts of the film centers traditional Korean cuisine, family, and togetherness at the dinner table. There is a clear general divide in the Choi family, but it’s the love for traditional family cooking frequently featured in the film that binds Kevin, Hyunny, their parents, and their grandmother together. The film lets us know that no matter how difficult immigrant life is in America, you will always have the love of family.
Happy Cleaners is bittersweet examination of Korea-American life that will leave you feeling jaded and hopeful at the same time.
The film had its World Premiere at the 2019 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and also screened at the 2019 CAAMFest in San Francisco in May.
The 42nd Asian American International Film Festival, in association with Asia Society, closes with the East Coast Premiere of ‘Happy Cleaners.’
Directors/Writers: Julian Kim, Peter S. Lee
Executive Producer: KoreanAmericanStory.org
Producers: Kat Kim, Theresa Choh-Lee, HJ Lee
Cast: Hyanghwa Lim, Charles Ryu, Yun Jeong, Yeena Sung
