A24 has Y E T to take an ‘L’ in my book, bruh.

I originally saw this film at the 2019 Atlanta Film Festival in April. Lulu Wang (director) and Awkwafina (leading star) attended the screening on opening night, and answered questions after the film.

While it’s taken months to post this review, I can vividly remember how I felt after it concluded. Bruh, I wept so hard in my theater seat that a follow film festival goer who, at the time, I assumed didn’t want to associate with anyone other than the people who joined him to the screening, leaned over, put his arm around me, and handed me a tissue.

Bruh, I wept. There’s something precious about the relationships people have with their grandparents or elders in their families. And this film tapped into a space in more ways than one where I could distinctly identify with Wang’s story, her cultural perspectives, and her specific style in capturing emotion that was super refreshing and left me in awe.

During the Q&A session following the screening, Wang spoke about playing with the aspect ratio for this film, and being influenced by horror films to garner suspense and capture emotion. These elements were not immediately apparent, but adds to the idea that filmmaking is such a varied and diverse space. The long standing close-ups were killer!

Cool things I noticed in the screenplay that are palpable across communities of color:

• Identity politics and navigating “success” in America as a minority
• Language/cultural barriers even with people who speak the same language
• The duality in using and understanding a different language against someone for “good”
• The complicated ethics/legality of a “good lie” during a health decision; the idea of protection

The screenplay was original. I was proud to see Awkwafina spread her wings and play a dramatic role, and she did a great job! I was really impressed by her ability to dip in and out of comedy and drama throughout the film. The actress who played Nai-Nai (Shuzhen Zhao) was fantastic, as well as the actor who played Awk’s father (Tzi Ma).

Highly recommend the gander.