In the summer of 1991, a Korean family—a widowed father, his teenage son, and young daughter—moves to rural Canada in search of a new start to their lives. Sonny, seeking an escape from his wife’s recent passing, is hired to eradicate feral canines from the town in exchange for shelter. As he devotes himself to this work, his children Hajoon and Hana find themselves navigating unfamiliar territory both geographical and emotional.

Told in three chapters, Mongrels illuminates a family portrait from various perspectives, narrating a tale of grief, resilience, and growth that is at the heart of so many migrant experiences everywhere. In his debut feature, director Jerome Yoo exudes warmth and sensitivity through a poetic narrative set in the serene landscapes of the Canadian Prairies, a land that holds so much peace and promise for a family bearing the wounds of the past.