During the 2024 Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) there were films that stood out notably “I saw the TV glow,” “The Summer with Carmen,” and “Sing Sing.” However, whenever I asked people during SIFF about their favorites, “Didi” was consistently mentioned. There are quite a few films appealingly excellent that have come out from the SIFF festival movies that compelled me to sit down and watch them all. However, unfortunately for me, I couldn’t find space for it within my quite packed work schedule.
Despite that, I finally got to watch the film and appreciate what the hype was about. Didi is directed by Sean Wang and basically is a goal oriented coming of age story about a teenager Chris Wang also as an Asian American amongst his family immigrants trying to fit into Fremont, California nurtured in the 2000s.
In “Didi,” Chris follows his family’s story, also lived in the bay area during his teenage years, portraying summer feeling carelessness, internalized racism, identity issues all teenagers go through and just growing up. Watching “Didi,” for me the biggest revelation was how authentic the movie felt, right alongside so many others I have seen including “Everything everywhere all at once”, “Minari”, and “The farewell”: They examine the Asian American immigrant experience story without insisting that your sympathy is a quest for audiences’ emotions.
I’d like to start with the fact that the movie was very entertaining for me, particularly because of how the creators approached the comedy part (take note, please, of “Wade Wilson & Logan”), and I also appreciated the very good performance by Chris Wang, it made me nostalgic about how mean and reckless I would act as a teen Of course, that’s not really how the picture goes but it does have its moments for the more heartfelt sequences, which brings a lot of about the story’s humility within.
The credits began to roll as the seamless soundtrack transitions flowed from one song to the next and even though it wasn’t stock music, it made time fly which seemed to emphasize that once again, there is not a single instance throughout the film where you would find yourself twiddling your thumbs, waiting for something exciting to take place, as there is always something engaging and significant going on the screen.
In the 91 minute runtime, I was able to speak on so many beautiful issues and not be too much about them. Having fought through self imposed racism, watching a film of this sort feels comforting because it makes me feel as though I am not the only one with such thoughts that continue making me feel guilty for thinking such a way.
Also, I would like to give the casting director of this film a gold medal since he was able to find the right casting for every part especially since there are a lot of young talents in this film, everyone looked like a pro. I liked Izaac Wang’s performance as a teenager that it made me think about a few teenagers from back in the days.
Recently, it seems like more films are being made to tell the immigrant stories in united states; however there still aren’t enough such films where the focus is on the immigrant’s life and crosses beyond the clichés.
What “Didi” is successful in doing is not only its outstanding performance, location, and quite some nice phasing but also the way it is able to help other people who go through the same situations and face the same difficulties in assimilation into a place that does not accept them.
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