Dìdi (2024) User Reviews

One of the best films I've seen at Sundance

[CMTempest · 9/10 · 9 February 2024]

This was a pleasant surprise. "Dídi" is a wonderful little indie film, and more than delivers on the potential of its coming of age premise; breaking new ground for the genre by finding unique ways to develop its characters.

The film offers an honest and touching look inside the life of a young Taiwanese-American as he navigates the awkward turbulences and heartbreaks of adolescence (some familiar/relatable, and others not). As the film progresses, its young central character, Chris, strains to discover himself and find his place in the world. We watch as he grows up and is forced to learn many of life's universal lessons, all while charting his own unique course through youth.

It's a familiar premise, but Sean Wang does something new and special with it, straying from the formula and imbuing the whole thing with subtle touches of realism, many of which I've never seen captured quite the same way in film before (HBO's Euphoria has a few moments which are comparable, but they're far more sensationalized than anything here). I really appreciated these novelties, as well as the film's frequently experimental approach/style, as they helped make things feel consistently fresh and new. Also, the fact that the timeline of Chris' childhood happens to line up almost exactly with my own made the whole thing especially enjoyable. They captured growing up in the 2000s perfectly.

I could definitely see this becoming a breakout hit, and to be honest, it may be the best film I've seen at a Sundance premiere (admittedly a limited selection, but I am from Utah, so I try to make it to the festival every few years). In any event, I'm looking forward to watching this again once it gets a wide release to see how it holds up on second viewing.

Initial Rating: 9/10.

Very Good Movie

[cinemapersonified · 8/10 · 19 March 2024]

Rating: 8.7 Overall, a very good coming-of-age drama that accurately portrays the struggles of an Asian American adolescent trying to find himself, carried out by authentic, yet humorous writing and a powerful performance from Joan Chen.

Very Good Direction (The direction on a macroscale is very good as they set the area and time-period very well (2000s, Bay Area); the direction on a microscale is great as you see how the characters' emotions and relationships change in the interpersonal scenes, and this might be one of the most accurate portrayals of Asian American adolescence I have seen; the direction of actors is very good as it feels like everyone's performance is elevated; the storytelling is very good as it tells a coming-of-age story through both the Asian-American lens and the lens from someone who grew up in the 2000s), Good to Very Good Acting (Good to Very Good from Izaac Wang (Shows a wide range of emotions as you can see how he changes his personality to fit in, all while being incredibly anxious/feeling lost), Very Good to Great from Joan Chen (Delivers a very powerful performance as the matriarch in the family as she tries her best to hold the family together while also trying to pursue her own passions; her final monologue is truly Oscar worthy as it comes second to Ellen Burstyn's Red Dress monologue in how emotional and well executed it is), Good from the rest of the cast (Really emulates the time-period and adolescence)), Good to Very Good Story (The concept is simple and self-explanatory as it is an Asian-American, coming-of-age story set in 2000s Fremont; the plot structure is pretty simple (short and to the point); flow between sequences is very good; the character writing is great as you really get a grasp of what each character in the family is going through (especially the protagonist and the mother)), Great Screenplay (The dialogue is great as it mimics the time-period/location/age of the characters; the Cantonese dialogue is used very well as it helps show the identity of the family and show this dichotomy of being an Asian American in that time-period; the emotional dialogue is very powerful as it invokes a lot of strong emotions in both the cast and the audience; the humor is very true to the time and well written; the symbolism is very powerful as it realistically shows Asian-American Identity and adolescence; the foreshadowing is pretty standard for a coming-of-age story), Pretty Good to Good Score (Helps with establishing the tone, especially in the more depressing scenes), Good Cinematography (Enjoyed the how they interweaved 2000s camcorder shots in with the standard shots, and I felt the more large scale shots did a good job at showing the emotions of the characters (especially the protagonist)), Very Good Editing (Feels very polished and interjects the message/social-media scenes very well), , Pretty Bad Visual Effects (Feels pretty tacky and out of place), Good Production Design (Did a good job in emulating 2000s Fremont, CA), Pacing is pretty fast as it tries to go through a decent amount in its short runtime (but there really could not have been any more runtime that could've been added), Climax is executed very well as it is the epiphany/lowest for the protagonist and displays an incredible monologue from the mother (showing her identity in relation to her family and personal ambitions), Tone feels like a coming-of-age movie set in 2000s Bay Area (and executes this very well), Saw the Texas Premiere at SXSW.

Honest depiction of a coming of age story from the Asian American community

[chenp-54708 · 8/10 · 28 January 2024]

Watched this at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Sean Wang perfectly captures the drama, cringe comedy of teenage life, and the Asian American culture with tender sweet performances, good camerawork, and fun characters to explore. Wang's direction on the humor aspects, character personalities and writing felt genuine to the setting and many of the themes on culture, friendship, growing up, and reality is well-handled with the maturity of the direction and writing.

There are uses of 2000's internet culture and media that felt strong and interesting and it is clear that Wang understands how internet culture works and how children are able to act. Because many of the child performances are good and Issac Wang is the star stealer of the entire movie, alongside with Joan Chen.

As someone who is Asian American, many of the themes, culture approaches and the characters were emotionally interesting and it felt purposeful and touching. I personally connected with the characters and what Wang was trying to tell. The humor is good as well.

Some small gripes are that I felt some of the lightening could be better in certain nighttime settings and some of the dialogue could be improved. Overall, this could have turned into a cheesy and annoying movie but with Wang's direction and writing, it becomes a thought-provoking yet tender sweet coming of age movie.

A Landmark in 1st Gen and Asian American Cinema, A Future Sundance Classic, and transforming Coming of Age Film Form

[liamlopinto · 10/10 · 24 January 2024]

Dìdi is Sean Wang's directorial debut feature and I felt very compelled a day after watching it to write a little review. The film brings us into Sean's semi-autobiographical tale of Chris, a Taiwanese American 13 year old growing up in the late 2000s in Fremont, CA.

If you know Sean's work, you understand how much depth and visual finesse he brings to his short documentaries. His transition into fiction filmmaking after his masterpiece (recently Oscar® Nominated!) short doc, Nai Nai & Wài Pó, plays with the overlapping characteristics of doc filmmaking and narrative filmmaking in such a unique and transformative way. Even casting his own grandmother to play Chris' grandmother in the film blends this idea of his own family and personal documentation blending into his narratives.

Sean mentioned that the root of this film is a dissection of shame and what it means to be a 1st generation teenager growing up in America, which entails coming to terms with our parents struggles in assimilation, but also finding a way of coping with our otherness in the face of becoming "American."

The backdrop of all of these periods of growth and self-discovery align at the birth of Facebook and crux of MySpace where our identities are formed and shaped by what we put on the internet and the image we curate; so many of the dramatic moments in the film are simply clicks of a mouse on certain tabs or icons on a computer screen. Watch this film in a theater and listen to the audible gasps at certain clicks that Chris chooses to make. It takes the budding desktop film idea noodled around with in the mid 2010s and forms a wonderful dramatic use of film form that enhances the found footage and skater film techniques.

The authenticity of the film also finds its way in how it portrays the adolescent behavior. Dìdi doesn't shy away from the toxic aspects of growing up in male friend groups, the rampant homophobia, violence, isolation, and sometimes casual as well as overt racism that weaves in and out of Chris's life.

But the secret sauce in what makes this film so deep is the lasting moments of silence that are brought to life in wonderful portrait and painterly cinematography by his creative partner and DP, Sam Davis. Sam, is an incredibly talented filmmaker in his own right, but it's in his mastery of the close-up in both Dìdi and Nai Nai & Wài Pó that connects us with Sean's personal history and truth that would be otherwise impossible to truly grasp.

It's watching Chris listen to his mom and his sister. These beautiful glimpses into Sean's own reflection of his family that play as a beautiful contrast to the comedic and adrenaline tempo catalyzed by the skater and adolescent influence.

This film is gonna go down as a landmark in Asian American cinema, 1st Gen Immigrant Diaspora Cinema, an authentic insight into growing up in the Bay Area, a Sundance gem, but more importantly as a really splendid period peace that takes me back to a really formative period in my own life balancing so many of the aspects of youth, belonging, and shame that Sean illustrates.

After you watch this film, I'd encourage you to find clips of Sean talking about the making of this film and the struggle to separate yourself from the personal but also wield it as the most powerful tool in your arsenal as a filmmaker. Listen to Sean mention Spike Jonze as one of his core influences in transitioning from a filmer to a filmmaker. The boundaries and conventions of skate videos being broken in order to turn into innovative cinema. It's some of the finest form of breaking down cinematic gatekeeping.

This film joins Stand By Me, Ratcatcher, Minding The Gap, Florida Project, and Rushmore as one of the great coming of age films. It's been lovely to get to know Sean and Sam this past year and I'm very proud to call them both peers and inspirations. Go watch Dìdi and give Sean and Sam their well deserved Oscars.

About family but not appropriate for families

[theemilydunn · 1/10 · 1 February 2024]

I had high hopes for this film based on the reviews. I was disappointed by the constant barrage of vulgarity, sex-related jokes, and overall trashiness.

There are no role models. There are no values upheld. It is like Lord of the Flies in the sense that the kids run amok doing whatever they please. No one stops to demand respect or teach civility.

Ultimately, myself and my 12 guests were too offended to finish the movie after fifteen minutes. Not at all appropriate for families.

It won an award for best ensemble at Sundance. I did think the grandmother and the mother were great characters. The main character was mediocre. The sister was vulgar.

The friends are worse in their vulgarity and immaturity. They call this a coming of age film. But where I live, this is not what it is like for youth. It wasn't this way for me and it is not for my children. Everything is much more exaggerated, dramatic, vicious, vulgar and inappropriate than I or my family can relate to.