For her feature-length directorial debut, “Bedford Park,” writer/director Stephanie Ahn expands on her 2023 short “Accident”.  It’s a study of two second-generation immigrants who initially seem like polar opposites but come to recognize their similarities as the tenderhearted New Jersey story unfolds. It all starts with a short-tempered meet-cute after a motor vehicle collision. It’s rare to find a story this delicately grounded and unhurried, with relatable people dealing with their problems and gradual romance in realistic ways.

The collision leads to another collision: that of two Korean American families with their own complexities. Physical therapist Audrey (Moon Choi) leaves her New York City job and arrives at her childhood home in New Jersey to care for her aging mother (Won Mi Kyung) following a car accident that left her with an injured wrist. Audrey speaks Chinese and can understand the culture, but has a low tolerance for her father (Kim Eung-soo), who has maintained a longstanding relationship with alcohol. While there, she develops a slow-burning attraction to Eli (Son Sukku), a local security guard and the brutish “other” driver involved in the collision. Her mother would prefer that Eli pay for the damage to her car, seeing as it is the respectful thing to do, and Audrey gets involved to try to get his insurance information, but he isn’t having it.

Ahn writes two stubborn, lonley and complex characters in Audrey and Eli. Both usually keep their emotions bottled up, but their first encounter shows them freely sharing their rage about the collision outside his apartment. The next time they meet, it’s once again outside his apartment, but this time, Audrey has a miscarriage, and that actually softens Eli. She isn’t in a relationship with someone else, but early in the movie, it’s established that she schedules casual sex with men using an app. It’s unclear if she’s trying to get pregnant, but she shares with Eli that she can get pregnant; it’s just that she has a less-than 5% chance of carrying a baby to term. He helps her out by retrieving the closest thing to “feminine products,” and in turn, she offers to be his driver, taking him to his mall security job and his community college classes, while his car is in the shop.

It’s in these carpool scenes that Ahn establishes an unlikely chemistry between the pair, starting off with awkwardness and gradually giving way to vulnerability. There’s no rush for these two to connect romantically, which is refreshing. Instead, we get moments of natural silence, humor, and reflection. One unexpected moment comes when the two wind up listening to Bill Conti’s music from “Rocky” (not “Gonna Fly Now”), and both take in the sweeping score. It could be that Eli’s wrestling past connects him to this classic movie, but it’s curious how Audrey had this queued up in her car. Either way, it’s a moment of levity that further fosters a shared universe among people whose experience of U.S. life has long been dictated by stoicism and isolation.

Ahn definitely paints these two characters as multi-dimensional, but the subplots in “Bedford Park” wind up weighing down their story. Some involve extraneous characters with vague connections to the two leads, which leads to tonal detours. A couple of these subplots could’ve been taken out (definitely one criminal subplot of Eli’s) – since they don’t go anywhere important – and you’d still have a compelling story. At times, the film feels too crowded with ancillary characters who have no real impact on the story between Audrey and Eli.

The title is mentioned once and is curious, considering much of the action takes place in the Garden State. That being said, Ahn definitely captures a distinctive East Coast vibe, whether it’s the working-class atmosphere, lower-class resentment, or brusque personalities. Certain cultural environments are noticeable as well, from transplanted Korean-American customs to authentic high school wrestling training.

“Bedford Park” is at its best when Audrey and Eli let their guard down and connect. A scene where they share a bed, finds the two discussing parental pressures, supposed lost potential, and childhood abuse with a welcome frankness that solidifies their growing trust. These are the moments where Choi and Sukku’s chemistry shines, as Ahn brings two damaged people together. Choi’s performance deftly balances restraint with sudden bursts of overwhelming emotion and sometimes frustration, conveying a woman whose secret self-abuse has become second-nature. Sukku’s Eli eventually reveals a vulnerable side that’s infectious, and his scenes working with high school wrestlers add a welcome dimension to the actor’s performance.

Maybe the intent was to overload “Bedford Park” with supporting characters and extraneous subplots, in order to convey emotional congestion or a crowded community that can get in the way of connection. From that lens, the film becomes somewhat melancholy, showing how real life gets in the way of two people coming together. For a debut feature, this is impressive work from Ahn, which details emotional poignancy, unique humor, and complex connections.

RATING: ***