Daniel Park, documentaries, Dojoon Park, Eugene Yi, film festivals, Hajoon Lee, Hannah Persi, James Roh, Jeff Lee, Kevin Nishimura, Kim Woosung, Kirby Lee, Lee Hajoon, Lee Taegyeom, Leo Park, movies, music, Rachel Seokyung Lee, reviews, Sammy Kim, San Hyung Lee, South Korea, Taegyeom Lee, The Rose, Transparent Arts, Tribeca Festival, Virman Coquia, Zakk Cervini
August 7, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by Eugene Yi
Some language in Korean with subtitles
Culture Representation: The documentary film “The Rose Come Back to Me” (filmed from 2023 to 2024) features a predominantly Asian group of people (with some white people) who are connected in some way to The Rose, a South Korean rock band.
Culture Clash: The members of The Rose have had battles with their former record label, their former management and various personal issues in their aim to stay true to themselves to not be exploited.
Culture Audience: “The Rose: Come Back to Me” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in documentaries about independent rock artists and music from South Korea.
“The Rose: Come Back to Me” is a formulaic but charming biographical documentary about this resilient rock band. The concert scenes are electrifying. And the Rose band members are forthright about their flaws. The movie hits a lot of familiar beats about the ups and downs of music artists who experience conflicts and challenges while trying to hold on to artistic integrity and creative freedom.
Directed by Eugene Yi, “The Rose: Come Back to Me” had its world premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Festival. The documentary was filmed from late 2023 to early 2025. There are also archival clips from other sources.
“The Rose: Come Back to Me” begins with a highlight from The Rose’s career so far: the band’s first performance at the 2024 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California. Fittingly, the song performed in this scene is The Rose’s “Back to Me.” The movie then shows the band’s story and how the Rose got to this milestone festival gig.
The Rose was formed South Korea in 2017. The band had quick success that year when the band’s music video for the single “Sorry” became a viral hit on You Tube. The Rose also grew its fan base through touring. The band signed with J&Star Company, a combination of a record label and a management company. By the end of 2018, The Rose had released two EPs: “Void” and “Dawn,” which yielded the respective hit singles “Baby” and “She’s in the Rain.” Then, there was the 2019 singles compilation album “Red,” which included the title track. All were hits in South Korea.
Although “The Rose: Come Back to Me” is very much about the band, the movie has very good editing that allows each member of The Rose to tell his personal story. All of the members of the band were born in South Korea. However, lead singer Woosung “Sammy” Kim was raised in the Los Angeles area, and is the only member of The Rose who is a U.S. citizen.
The four members of the band are:
- Woosung “Sammy” Kim, born in 1993, is the band’s charismatic lead singer. He had a background in DSP Media training to be a K-pop artist (he came in third place on South Korea’s “K-Pop Star” in 2012), but he quit the K-pop training program in order to pursue a music career that is authentic to who he is. In a documentary interview, Kim says that he had a “yo-yo diet” and felt “depressed” during K-Pop training experience. “I felt like a robot,” he adds.
- Dojoon “Leo” Park, born in 1993, is the band’s guitarist/keyboardist and is credited with being the driving force for the band’s songwriting. Park started out as a street busker in the 2010s and was also briefly a DSP Media trainee in K-pop.
- Taegyeom “Jeff” Lee, born in 1994, is the band’s bass guitarist, who has a sensitive and deep-thinking personality. His father, San Hyung Lee (a former professional musician), who is seen playing music with Jeff in the documentary, encouraged Jeff to become a musician. In the documentary, Jeff (who is also actor) candidly talks about his mental health struggles with depression.
- Hajoon “Dylan” Lee, born in 1994, is the band’s drummer. He is the quietest one in the band and the one who says the least about his personal life. However, its obvious that rhythm section members Dylan and Jeff have a close bond with each other.
Kim (who met Park through K-pop training) was the last one to join The Rose. Park, Jeff and Dylan were previously a busking trio named Windfall. The documentary includes The Rose discussing one of the band’s most difficult challenges. In 2019, The Rose sued J&Star Company for lack of payment. J&Star Company countersued. The lawsuit put The Rose on a forced hiatus, during which Park, Jeff and Dylan went into South Korean military service, which requires South Korean able-bodied South Korean male citizens between the ages of 18 to 28 to serve for 18 to 21 months.
After the lawsuit was settled in The Rose’s favor in 2022, The Rose signed with new management Transparent Arts. The band regrouped and mounted a resurgence, with the release of the albums “Heal” (2022) and “Dual” (2023). The Rose’s EP “WRLD” was released in May 2025. The band members express camaraderie with each other and gratitude for their fans throughout the documentary. Although the band’s hiatus and legal battles were emotionally stressful, the members of The Rose also say that these learning experiences made them stronger when the band members reunited.
“The Rose: Come Back to Me” keeps the documentary interviews limited to the band members and people in The Rose’s inner circle. Kim’s mother Hannah Persi is briefly in the documentary, where she shows some childhood photos of him. Music producer Zakk Cervini and Transparent Arts executives Daniel Park, Rachel Seokyung Lee, Kirby Lee, Kevin Nishimura, James Roh and Virman Coquia are among those who share their positive thoughts on The Rose. Nishimura, Roh and Coquia had fame in the 2010s, as members of the hip-hop group Far East Movement (best known for the 2010 hit “Like G6”), and they mention that they want to help give Asian artists the types of opportunities that didn’t exist for Far East Movement.
During songwriting sessions, the documentary shows Park taking the lead for composing music and melodies, while Kim is the band’s chief lyricist. As such, Park and Kim seem to have a special bond with each other, just like rhythm section Jeff and Dylan are closer to each other than the other members of The Rose. It’s an interpersonal dynamic that the band accepts and doesn’t try to change.
However, in the documentary, The Rose doesn’t hide that there’s been internal friction because Kim, as the heartthrob lead singer, gets most of the attention. It’s mentioned in the documentary that J&Star Company attempted to drive a wedge between Kim and his band mates because J&Star Company wanted Kim to leave The Rose to become a solo artist. Kim refused to leave The Rose, but band relations got so bad at the time, J&Star Company would only communicate with the band through Kim. This dysfunction led to harmful gossip and a lot of tension, says Kim.
The band also talks about weathering the storm of controversy that erupted in 2023, when Kim’s 2016 arrest and conviction for marijuana possession were made public. Kim pled guilty to the charge and received a suspended sentence for possessing a small amount of marijuana. South Korea’s travel visa approval laws are stricter than other countries, when it comes to approving a visa for someone with past drug conviction. Kim’s drug conviction could have put The Rose’s touring plans in jeopardy. He has made several public apologies, but the documentary shows he still feels a little guilty about how this drug conviction could have ruined the band’s ability to do performances outside of South Korea.
Earlier in his life, Kim overcame another major obstacle. In the documentary, he talks about when he was a teenager living in the United States, his dream was to become an American football player. However, after he dislocated his shoulder while playing football and had surgery, medical professionals told him that he could no longer play football. To cope with his disappointment, he started to listen to more music, which he said healed him emotionally and set him on a path to becoming a professional musician.
In a documentary interview, Park vividly remembers an experience in his busker days, when he took a risk and sang Jason Mraz’s 2005 song “A Beautiful Mess,” instead of better-known pop tune that would’ve gotten Park more audience donations. Park says he was so nervous to perform this song, he started singing it with his eyes closed, but when he opened his eyes, he saw about 30 people standing in front of him and enjoying his performance. Park says that was a moment when he learned to trust his musical instincts.
It’s a recurring theme in the movie: Artists staying true to themselves, even when when it’s easier to make money by following trends or when there are naysayers, critics and so-called “experts” telling the artists to do something that is not authentic. “The Rose: Come Back to Me” has the expected scenes of the band performing, rehearsing, writing songs and interacting with fans. But the movie’s biggest inspiration and takeway is that this band survived and thrived by not compromising who The Rose is.
Wavelength Productions will release “The Rose: Come Back to Me” in Los Angeles on August 8, 2025. CJ 4DPLEX will release the movie worldwide on February 14, 2026.