East Bay

East Bay is an extremely funny and deceptively intricate comedy about the enormous pressure people are under to be happy and successful in this life, which for all we know might be a massive simulation. Jack is a Korean-American man, who at age thirty-nine, decides he’s had it with trying to be happy and successful. He lazily explores spirituality. In the process his psyche unravels, and he blows up the lives of those around him. Cleverly examining our modern world in surprising and unpredictable ways, Daniel Yoon’s second feature questions whether every moment in our lives must be reduced to happiness and success. Is the pursuit of happiness and success the whole point, or the problem, or neither, or both? It’s a film full of laughs, full of humanity, and full of heart. (Cinequest Festival)