Dìdi (2024)

After making one of the most delightfully fun to watch documentaries of the past few years (really, go watch the Oscar nominated Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó... no really) Wang follows up with this impressive debut for a feature narrative film, Dìdi, with what feels like a very personal reflection on growing up in the aughts as a first generation boy. Dìdi is a story full of humour and disappointment, is extremely relatable but with a very specific circumstance, and just hits all the right notes. 

Wang communicates all of this very effectively giving us a very personal look at the life of "Chris" who feels very much like a stand in for a younger version of himself. Perhaps casting his own Nǎi Nai contributes to this. Dìdi is reminiscent of Mid90s but perhaps a little more deftly navigated. Wang nails the commonness of it all with injecting a watchability that is truly powerful. 

The young actor Izaac Wang who plays Chris is a standout, giving one of those child actor performances that shows so much promise for his future as an actor. Paired with the truly luminescent Chen as his mother, whose subtle yet complicated performance is vulnerable and commanding at the same time, the two make a formidable team. Watching them play off each other gives the film such an honesty.

I have to take some points off for the way it handles an element which is likely very accurate but fumbled a bit. Chris' social circle features a sort of ubiquitous homophobia and toxic masculinity which is certainly not unexpected and feels authentic, but it is never addressed in the film. The film stops short of imbuing a misogyny into his friend group but allows the rampant homophobic tension to actually forward the plot (being called a "fag" provokes him into violence) at one part. I understand that this sort of friend group would likely exhibit these features, but the film doesn't handle it in a way that calls it out, leaving it unaddressed and therefore somewhat endorsed. There are no queer characters in this world I guess and Chris never has an awakening to why his masculinity is so threatened in these ways. 

Having said that Dìdi still shows significant promise for both its director and its star. I'm excited to see what both will do next. 

Dìdi

Starring: Izaac Wang, Joan Chen

Writer/Director: Sean Wang