When filmmaker Andrew Ahn set out to make his first feature film Spa Night, he ran into roadblocks with members of the Korean-American community.

On the line from Los Angeles, the second-generation Korean American writer-director said the issue was the subject matter.

The film follows David (played by Joe Seo), a low-key Korean-American high-school grad whose first-generation parents are facing financial struggles. That part wasn't the issue, of course. What was a concern was that the film depicts David coming to terms with his attraction to men as he takes on a job at a Korean spa.

Ahn said that they had difficulty securing locations to shoot as many spas didn't want the film shot there, and they lost a location because of the content.

While they already faced limited options for finding actors fluent in Korean, the subject matter further reduced the potential talent pool.

"In casting, I had a woman who auditioned for the role of the mother of the film and she told us that if she got the part, she wouldn't take it because her husband was a pastor," he said. "And then a young man who auditioned for the role of David—he told his mother about the film, and she told him that if he got the part and if he took it, that she would send him to live in Korea with his aunt because the Korean American community would be so angry at him that he'd have to go into hiding for a while."

Ahn called the production period a "very tense time" but he did whatever it took to get it done.

That included drawing upon inspiration from a certain Korean-American celebrity.

Ahn explained that he came up with the idea for film in 2011 when a friend told him about how he had a hot hookup with a guy at a Korean spa.

He later came across an article about how comedian Margaret Cho was kicked out of a Korean spa because of her tattoos.

"As someone who doesn't necessarily fit into the stereotypical Korean-American community, that she has to fight even harder to keep her connection to her Korean culture—that really resonated with me on an emotional level and inspired me to keep going and keep writing this particular story," he said.

Although he said the original idea for the story was for it to all take place at spa in one night, he realized began to clarify what his true focus was.

"I really wanted this film to be about this clash between a forming gay identity and a Korean American identity and I realized that a lot of the Korean cultural stuff would be really focused on this main character's family life," he said. "So the parents became a bigger and bigger part of the movie with each draft, and when we edited the film we realized they were very much the heart of the movie. That's where we can really connect to David and see how much he cares for his parents."

When David's parents (played by Youn Ho Cho and Haerry Kim) receive some unexpected news about their family restaurant, they're forced to abruptly shift gears. Under the strain of heightened financial pressures, tensions arise, as his father sinks deeper into drinking and withheld emotions bubble to the surface.

Meanwhile, the ever-faithful David does what he can to alleviate their stress.

"In many ways, the transition period that David's caught in between being a boy and a man, his parents are also stuck in the transition period where they are going from able-bodied adults to being very aware of their age and wondering about their future and wanting to be grandparents," Ahn said. "I just thought a lot about my relationship with my own parents and seeing them struggle financially, emotionally just as we've all grown as people."

In some ways, David becomes a parent to his own parents.

Ahn cited how he once watched a Chinese American boy, who was about 6 years old, ordering on behalf of his mother at a fast-food outlet and found it endearing. He pointed out how second-generation children, due to English-language ability, "can navigate this world a little bit easier" and thus play an important role in the family.

"I did think a lot about that in this film and how David is realizing this and feeling the pressure of having to succeed on behalf of his parents and be able to take care of them in the way that they've taken care of him," he said.

While David's parents want him to get into a good university, in order to do so, David must take SAT classes, which are costly. Although his parents enroll him despite their financial situation, he struggles to get good scores.

Amid all of this, David pays a price for his devotion to his family, as he wrestles with his sexual maturation.

"I believe that coming out is definitely a privilege, in a way," Ahn said. "There are many communities and countries and religions where coming out is putting yourself in danger, and so I think for me, the film wasn't so much about this vocal, I'm-and-proud sort of thing but it was more about someone understanding who they are and learning and growing and just trying to find some sort of inner peace."

That repression and closeted perspective is echoed in how the film was shot.

Ahn said he worked with cinematographer Ki Jin Kim to convey the idea of "visual yearning".

"We really wanted the audience to desire something from the image in the way that David desires something in the film, and so there was a lot of thinking about what do you leave out, actually? What can you not quite see and want because it's being shot through steam or glass or water? How do we frame these shots so that you really want to see what's happening outside of frame? So instead of thinking about too much about what's in the frame, we really thought about what's outside of it."

David's personality is also reflected in the film's pacing.

"There's something about David that felt really slow and deliberate and that in order to really connect with him, that we'd have to sit with him," Ahn said. "He's not like a super extroverted, energetic guy and we felt that if the film moved too quickly or the camera was more frenetic, that you'd kind of lose David."

While he had been anticipating a backlash to the film, he didn't experience it. In fact, the film screened at the Sundance Film Festival, where Seo won an acting award for his portrayal of David.

However, if there is any negative reaction from Korean-American viewers, Ahn feels that it's better to talk about it than to sweep it under the rug.

"I am very open to disagreement, dialogue, and backlash because I think at least it can open up a conversation about being queer in the Korean community," he said.

Spa Night screens at the Cinematheque from today until Monday (November 4 to 7).