The motel

Michael Kang's debut feature, in the words of Variety, "signals the arrival of a singularly promising filmmaker." With extraordinary subtlety of feeling, THE MOTEL tells a coming-of-age tale of chubby, 13-year-old Ernest (Jeffrey Chyau), a second generation Chinese-American, who helps run his mother's sleazy rent-by-the hour motel. His relationship with teenage Christine (Samantha Futerman, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA), who works at her family's Chinese restaurant, is soon overshadowed by a charismatic stranger (Sun Kang), a sexy Korean-American ne'er-do-well inhabiting the motel for trysts with prostitutes. Kang uses the specific realities of these Asian-American lives to create a believable, nuanced universe not defined by ethnicity -- a world recognizable to anyone who has survived adolescence.. From the producer of THE GOOD GIRL and CHUCK AND BUCK.

"A portrait of adolescence as heartfelt and authentic as it is hilarious.” ~ Jeff Yang, SF Chronicle

“Michael Kang’s small, perfectly observed portrait of Ernest Chin…captures the biological limbo of early adolescence… The drama…stems not from any conventional plot, but in the accruing of small, telling details that sustain a feeling of lives in suspension.” ~ Stephen Holden, The New York Times

"... feels effortlessly authentic. Like the best independent films, THE MOTEL realizes that life is made up of minor pleasures and tiny epiphanies. The film develops a sneaky emotional power. In his beautifully shot, poignantly scored debut, Kang also benefits tremendously from winning performances by Chyau and Kang.” ~ Nathan Rabin, The Onion

"A wonderful, wry portrait of puberty." ~ Maria Garcia, Film Journal

"A small jewel." ~ Jay Carr, AM NY