Film
A State of Mind
- Musical
- Slow-burning
A State of Mind follows two young North Korean gymnasts training for the Mass Games, a vast state spectacle. Shot over eight months with rare access to ordinary North Korean life, it's a documentary that works on two levels: as intimate human drama and as a window into an opaque regime. For anyone curious about how ideology shapes childhood, or how families navigate constraint.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you are drawn to patient, observational documentaries where a closed society reveals itself through small domestic routines, rehearsal halls and the quiet pressure on children.
Skip it if you want a film that interrogates its subject, since this one watches closely but rarely pushes back against what it is shown, and context arrives sparingly.
What it asks of you: Ninety-three minutes at an unhurried pace, mostly following the girls through repetitive practice, so patience pays off more than any single scene.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Pumping Iron1977
The original sports documentary that finds drama in repetitive training and personal ambition. Like A State of Mind, it treats its subjects as fully human rather than exotic, and builds tension from dedication rather than plot.
But Arnold Schwarzenegger's towering presence and the 70s bodybuilding world feel dated now. If you want contemporary urgency, this won't provide it.
The Dawn Wall2017
Two climbers on a vertical rock face for nineteen days. Captures the meditative repetition and quiet determination that A State of Mind finds in gymnastic training, with similar intimacy between subject and filmmaker.
But Long stretches of climbing footage with minimal dialogue. If you need narrative momentum or external conflict, the pacing will feel glacial.
Hoop Dreams1994
Follows two basketball players from childhood through adolescence, examining how institutions shape ambition and identity. Like A State of Mind, it's patient, humanizing, and reveals how systems use their subjects.
But At 171 minutes it demands real commitment. The American sports industrial complex it depicts may feel less immediately alien than North Korea, reducing the shock value.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from A State of Mind
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Ascent1977
Both are cold-war artifacts examining how totalitarian systems demand sacrifice from their citizens. A State of Mind observes; this one imagines the same impulse in speculative form. Same era's preoccupations, opposite approaches.
Soviet science-fiction film about cosmonauts climbing a mountain to destroy a weapon. Formally experimental, shot in black and white, meditative rather than action-driven. A completely different genre that shares A State of Mind's visual austerity and its fascination with bodies tested by ideology.
But Deliberately paced and philosophically abstract. If you want narrative clarity or character development, this rewards patience with atmosphere instead. Requires active engagement.
More like this (7)
Senna2010
Propulsive documentary about Ayrton Senna using archive footage to build dramatic momentum. Shares A State of Mind's interest in how obsession shapes a life, but with faster editing and higher stakes.
But Assumes you care about Formula 1. Heavy on technical racing detail that may alienate viewers uninterested in motorsport specifics.
The Battered Bastards of Baseball2014
Wildly fun documentary about an independent baseball team. Has A State of Mind's eye for ordinary people's dedication and discipline, but trades ideology for scrappy American humor and joy.
But Relentlessly upbeat. If you're drawn to A State of Mind partly for its darker implications, this cheerfulness might feel evasive.
Touching the Void2003
Recreates a mountaineering disaster through interviews and dramatization. Matches A State of Mind's meditative intensity and its interest in how humans endure under pressure, external and internal.
But The climactic survival sequence is grueling. If you need distance from physical suffering, this pushes uncomfortably close.
Last Chance U2016
Multi-season dive into American college football recruitment and training. Shares A State of Mind's ethnographic approach to how institutions shape young people's lives and ambitions.
But American sports politics and NCAA minutiae may feel parochial compared to A State of Mind's geopolitical weight. Quality varies across seasons.
Jiro Dreams of Sushi2011
Meditative portrait of obsession and mastery. Like A State of Mind, it finds profound humanity in repetition and dedication, and treats its subject with unsentimental reverence.
But The contemplative pace and focus on craft details over narrative will feel slow if you want conventional documentary drama. Also, the filmmaker's admiration for Jiro borders on uncritical.
The Two Escobars2010
Explores Colombia through the lens of a footballer and a drug lord, examining how systems use individual bodies. Has A State of Mind's intellectual ambition and willingness to sit in moral ambiguity.
But The connection between its two subjects feels occasionally forced. Shorter runtime means less time to build the intimate portrait that makes A State of Mind resonate.
Hail Mary1985
A State of Mind documents bodies shaped by political ideology; Hail Mary uses bodies as a canvas to interrogate religious and aesthetic ideology itself. One observes; one disrupts. Both ask what happens when systems claim ownership of the human form.
Godard's avant-garde film about the Virgin Mary as a basketball player, mixing high art, sport, and ideology in ways that should be incompatible but somehow transcend sense. Like A State of Mind, it takes the human body as a text where power and belief systems are written.
But Deliberately obscure and resistant to conventional meaning-making. It's challenging on purpose; patience will not guarantee comprehension. Religious and aesthetic provocations may offend.
People
Cast
Daniel GordonNarrator- Hyon Sun Pakherself
- Song Yun KimHerself
Kim Jong-ilHimself (archive footage)- Kim Jong-hoHimself - Mass Games Organizer
- Hyon Sun PakHerself - Gymnast
- Song Yun KimHerself - Gymnast
Directing
- Daniel GordonDirector
Writing
- Daniel GordonWriter