TIFF Review: Hong Sang-soo Returns With 'Right Now, Wrong Then'

For those who accuse Hong Sang-soo of essentially telling the same kinds of stories in his films, the first half of his latest, "Right Now, Wrong Then," will look especially like a case of auteurist déjà vu. A male main character who is himself a film director? Check. Awkward attempts at picking up women? Yep. Machismo receiving its comeuppance? Been there, done that. The differences between the Korean director’s films, however, lie in the telling, and if his last film, "Hill of Freedom," felt a bit too much like amusing formal gimmickry for its own sake, in "Right Now, Wrong Then," Hong not only finds an intriguing gimmick to play with, but then proceeds to use it for genuinely revealing purposes.

READ MORE: Venice Review: Hong Sang-soo’s Slight, Gentle ‘Hill of Freedom’

That gimmick is implied by the first time its title pops up…or rather, an inversion of the film’s title: "Right Then, Wrong Now." The correct title...