The first ‘Minari’ trailer shows why it was such a hit at Sundance this year

More than half a year after it scored top prizes at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, the first look at Lee Isaac Chung’s highly anticipated family drama, “Minari,” is finally here.

On Wednesday, A24 released an emotional trailer for the film, which stars Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Yuh-Jung Youn, Noel Cho and Alan Kim as a Korean American family that moves to Arkansas in the 1980s to start a farm.

“We said we wanted a new start,” Yeun’s Jacob tells his wife, Monica (Han), in the clip. “This is it.”

The trailer sees loving parents Jacob and Monica fight to provide for their children in the face of growing adversity as they adjust to life in rural America, characterized by stunning pastoral landscapes and unforgiving elements.

“They need to see me succeed at something for once,” Jacob says, tending to the land.

Highlighted prominently in the preview is Kim, who stole hearts at Sundance as the spunky 7-year-old David — seen goofing off with his father and sassing his grandmother in lighthearted moments.

“Grandma, you’re not a real grandma,” he says matter of factly. “They bake cookies! They don’t swear! They don’t wear men’s underwear!”

Based on writer-director Chung’s own childhood, “Minari” wowed crowds and judges alike at Sundance, where it won both the audience award and the United States dramatic grand jury prize — a feat achieved only by seven other films since the audience award was added to the festival in 1989. The film does not yet have a theatrical release date.

“Remember what we said when we got married?” Jacob says at the end of the trailer. “That we’d move to America and save each other?”

“I remember,” says Monica.