Alternate Best Actor 2016: Joe Seo in Spa Night

 Joe Seo did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying David in Spa Night.

Spa Night depicts a young man in a conservative working-class Korean American family dealing with his sexuality while working at a spa. 

Joe Seo may be known by some as the least dynamic character in Cobra Kai, a character who began as a bully, stayed a bully and continues to be a bully. So it is interesting to see an actor in such a limited role getting to play the lead in a film about self-exploration. That journey though is one I think characterized more so by observation and reaction here than someone getting involved in a particular scenario. Much of the character of David's dialogue is perfunctory with more so the focus being on moments of key interactions and reactions. On the surface, Seo gives an entirely respectable performance. He's believable in the way we see him passively interact with his family, withdrawn more often than not as they take more of the action, even when it is dealing with David's future. Seo provides a convincing energy of a very young man who hasn't really matured to the point of personal action one way or another. Speaking of one way or another, we see the same idea within the character's exploration of his sexuality. It is an aspect that is shown in moments of behavior more than spoken thought. Whether this is him very much playing into a game of "gay chicken", taking nude photos of himself, or take more than a few glances at the nude bodies of many of his customers. 

Seo's work does effectively internalize the sense of the character going through a personal conflict of sorts that conveys someone who isn't exactly conflicted over his sexuality in terms of his own personal belief, but rather in terms of within his state of his family. Whenever he takes "action" Seo's performance presents as almost an instinctual reaction, where there isn't any hesitation whatsoever in the moment, and as the man wholly just believing that should what he should be doing in the moment. That is in stark contrast to the rest of his performance where Seo's performance is in this uneasy state of uncertainty. Seo's performance here I will say is limited within the overall approach of the film which leaves so much unsaid. And while I think a lot can be done in silence, I wouldn't quite say that Seo's work is on the level of a truly great performance of that ilk. It is a good performance though that does work in creating the sense of the character's journey even when that journey really is just all in his expressions and in his eyes. His face creates the sense of the man just containing it all within himself and moving along within his family's structure, never quite breaking it, though going with all his passions when it appears he is given the chance to. While I don't think this is a great performance, it is a good performance where he does find enough intimate emotions to convey the key elements of his character. At the very least it proves that Seo is probably capable of more than just the very generalized bully pompous swagger that defines his best-known role.