Columbus

Columbus is currently streaming in Australia on MUBI and Hoopla, and in the US on Kanopy and Fawesome, and it rewards the patience it asks of you. A tight runtime that never overstays its welcome. Its 7/10 TMDB score, built from 481 ratings, reflects a title that consistently delivers. John Cho anchors it with a performance that rewards close attention. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on MUBI.

Part of the current wave of titles people are actually watching, Columbus earns its spot. Columbus takes its time building the world its characters inhabit, and the patience pays off. When a renowned architecture scholar falls suddenly ill during a speaking tour, his son Jin finds himself stranded in Columbus, Indiana - a small Midwestern city celebrated for its many significant modernist buildings. Jin strikes up a friendship with Casey, a young architecture enthusiast who works at the local library. John Cho and Haley Lu Richardson lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 2017. What elevates Columbus is a refusal to let any character off the hook too easily. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

For anyone looking for storytelling that takes its characters seriously, Columbus delivers. It has built its own audience without needing a direct comparison. A contained runtime means every scene is doing real work. John Cho is the centre of it, and it is one of their strongest performances on record. The patience it asks of you early on is paid back with interest.