It stars Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho, Youn Yuh-jung, and Will Patton.

A semi-autobiographical take on Chung's upbringing, its plot follows a family of South Korean immigrants who move to rural Arkansas during the 1980s.

The film received critical acclaim, with praise for Chung's direction and screenplay, Yeun's and Youn's performances, and the score.

Jacob is optimistic, but his wife, Monica, is disappointed with the mobile home and the distance from urban amenities, especially a hospital for their son David, who has a heart condition.

The couple work sexing chicks at a nearby hatchery and argue frequently while David and his sister, Anne, eavesdrop.

David finally begins to warm to her after she teaches him hwatu, bandages his wounds, and soothes his fears over his heart condition.

The family leaves Soon-ja at home while they head to Oklahoma City for David's heart appointment and to meet a vendor for Jacob's produce.

They learn that David's condition has dramatically improved, and he will not need surgery, and Jacob makes a deal to sell vegetables to a Korean grocer.

But Jacob also indirectly admits to Monica that his crops' success is more important to him than their family's stability and, after an emotional argument over whether they can support each other only during good times, the two agree to separate.

[12][13] Chung wrote the screenplay for Minari in 2018 shortly before taking on an instructor position at the University of Utah Asia Campus in Songdo, South Korea.

[14] He cited Cather and Fyodor Dostoevsky as inspirations during the writing process, recalling the former's saying "that her life really began when she stopped admiring and started remembering".

[14] In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Chung spoke about the challenges of drawing on his family's experiences: "It was very difficult in the sense that I know that my parents are private people.

[14][18] In July 2019, it was announced that Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri, Youn Yuh-jung, Will Patton, and Scott Haze had joined the film's cast.

[38][39] The same weekend, the film placed fifth on Apple TV's PVOD rental charts, sixth on FandangoNow, and eighth on Google Play.

The site's critics consensus reads: "Led by arresting performances from Steven Yeun and Yeri Han, Minari offers an intimate and heart-wrenching portrait of family and assimilation in 1980s America.

[45] A. O. Scott of The New York Times gave the film a positive review, writing: "Minari is modest, specific and thrifty, like the lives it surveys.

"[46] Nicholas Barber at the BBC rated the film 5/5, writing, "Sensitively written and acted, beautifully shot, and with a charming, sparingly used score, Minari is so engaging that it's easy to forget how radical it is.

"[48] Robbie Collin of The Telegraph rated the film 4/5, writing, "Lee Isaac Chung's tender story is a finely observed portrait of family relations and rural American values".

"[52] In 2024, the website Looper ranked it number 34 on its list of "50 Best PG-13 Movies of All Time", writing, "Everyone has got a story to tell and the quietly powerful filmmaking of Minari conveys this truth magnificently.

"[57] Author Viet Thanh Nguyen wrote that the "decision speaks powerfully to the issue of what makes something—a language or a person or a culture—foreign".

[61] Many other filmmakers, actors, and authors, including Daniel Dae Kim, Simu Liu, Harry Shum Jr., Franklin Leonard, Phil Lord, Nia DaCosta, Celeste Ng, Min Jin Lee, and Phillipa Soo, criticized the decision on similar grounds.