Didi
Didi is playing in theaters at the time of writing. Rated R. Common Sense says 14+.
Writer-director Sean Wang tells the story of Didi (Izaac Wang) a young Chinese American teenager just trying to figure it all out.
STORY: A
A coming of age tale that’s both universal and passionately specific to its era.
Chris’s teenage plight is nothing new. His struggles have been around forever, and they’ll be around forever.
Those who survived their teenage years in the late aughts will feel seen, fully and completely. And those of us who are a “Yeah? Well, back in my day!” age will come to understand the late 2000’s because we understand Chris, fully and completely. It’s a delightful way to fall in love with a story.
THE SCOOP: Check out Didi’s IMDb page, here.
PEOPLE: A
Young Izaac Wang is the standout in a movie packed full of pitch perfect performances.
Wang’s performance needs to carry the film, or the whole thing crumbles. And carry it he does.
It’s an impressive feat made all that much more impressive by the cast that surrounds him. The film won, deservedly, the Best Ensemble Award at this year’s Sundance Festival.
CAST PARTY: Check out the Hollywood Reporter’s interview with Sean Wang and his cast, here. (4 mins)
FILM NERD STUFF: A
Wang’s thoughtful camera work makes this recreation of the early aughts come alive.
Didi’s set design is as detailed as a history museum exhibit. But it’s the way Wang positions the camera that elevates your experience from museum exhibit to time machine.
You feel like you’re sitting with the Wang’s at their dinner table. Nearly every shot in this opening sequence is a one character close-up. You can breathe in the emotional isolation and tension teeming through the family. We’re not just observers. We’re participants.
BEHIND THE SCENES: Check out Sean Wang and Izaac Wang discuss how they recreated the late 2000’s with Character Media, here. (6 mins)
ELECTIVE CLASS (Well, I Guess This Is Growing Up): A
The film perfectly captures the main pain point of adolescence.
Chris, like billions of other teenagers, wants to be accepted. He wants to be liked. And he longs for the object of his affection to find him just as groovy as he finds her.
And Chris, like billions of other teenagers, spends nearly all of his time trying to look and act like the person he thinks everyone else would find cool.
When you’re young, you don’t realize that the more you pretend to be someone else, the sooner the real you pops back up. And that it usually happens at a time you really don’t want it to.
If you’re a teen, then you (like billions of other teenagers) will know you’ve taken your first small step toward becoming an adult when you start spending more time and brain space figuring out who you want to be, and less of it on trying to be the person you think everyone else wants you to be.
FINAL COMMENTS:
A too-short synopsis of the film would sound something like this: “Think Bo Burnham’s 8th Grade, except it’s about a boy instead of a girl and it also deeply considers the Asian-American experience.”
Sean Wang has created a perfect coming of age film. While some elements seem exaggerated, it usually takes a certain amount of dramatic exaggeration to evoke feelings in an audience. The emotions we feel as we follow Chris on his journey are genuine, moving, and unforgettable.