At first glance (or first trailer), Sean Wang’s directorial debut Dìdi (弟弟) (Chinese for “younger brother”) may seem like an empty rehash of other contemporary coming-of-age films like mid90s (2018) or Eighth Grade (2018), but to my surprise, there is more than meets the eye with this touching and all-too-real film. An era of peak Myspace and Facebook and the dawn of YouTube (where the promise of “YOU” being the star was too much of a great thing for young kids to miss out on), 2008 is the year in which this film is set (a particularly nostalgic era for myself, in particular). Dìdi (弟弟) follows 13-year-old Taiwanese American Chris Wang (Izaac Wang) during the last month of summer before high school begins. Living with his older, tormenting sister Vivian (Shirley Chen); his doting mother Chungsing (Joan Chen); and her demanding mother-in-law Nai Nai (Chang Li Hua); Chris is impressionable and looking to learn new things such as how to flirt, skate, and … love your family.
Izaac Wang as Chris Wang in writer/director Sean Wang’s DÌDI, a Focus Features release. Photo Credit: Focus Features / Talking Fish Pictures. © Talking Fish Pictures, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Casting Izaac Wang (Good Boys; Raya and the Last Dragon) in the role of Chris is just one of many of the shrewd decisions this film makes. The film’s tagline, “for anyone who’s ever been a teenager,” applies to this character’s creation. The curiosity, the vulgarity, the innocence, the troublemaking — he’s a representation of all of us navigating the crucial early adulthood years. The only thing that may be different for older audiences is the presence of the internet (more on that later). Izaac brings such a great natural vulnerability and energy to the role of Chris, or “Wang Wang” as his friends Fahad (Raul Dial) and Soup (Aaron Chang) call him. As Chris discovers his identity as a young man and what it means to grow up (or at least try to), Izaac’s performance doesn’t come off generic or fake. It feels as if we are on the cusp of manhood with him. In moments of vulnerability, such as a painfully awkward-turned-heartbreaking scene where he has a failed date with his crush Madi (Mahaela Park), we feel the hurt and we feel the failure. When he discovers his passion for filmmaking (or being a “filmer,” as the skateboarders whom he shadows and records call it), we get just as excited as he does when we first learned of passions we had as teens. First love, passions, anger, heartbreak, frustration — Izaac navigates all of these complex levels of teenage emotion effortlessly and carries the film with no sweat. But he’s not the only great thing the film has going for it. Joan Chen (Twin Peaks) does great understated work as Chungsing, a caring mother and wife who is just trying to understand who her son is. With a husband who is working overseas in Taiwan to support the family, a daughter who is heading off to college soon, and an overbearing mother-in-law who criticizes her parenting at every turn, Chungsing sacrifices a lot of her dreams and aspirations for her family. Her chemistry with Izaac is great, and their scenes carry an authenticity of concerned-mother-and-disillusioned-son interactions. They may not be the perfect pair and they couldn’t be farther away from each other in personality, but there is love and support in that house and the climactic heart-to-heart moment between the two drills that home even more.
L-R: Izaac Wang as Chris Wang and Mahaela Park as Madi in writer/director Sean Wang’s DÌDI, a Focus Features release. Photo Credit: Focus Features / Talking Fish Pictures. © Talking Fish Pictures, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
With the first shot being a homemade YouTube video of an exploding mailbox (a hilarious conclusion to a story told in full by Chris later in the film), Sean Wang makes it clear that this covers a specific point in time, a time where teenagers literally grew up on the internet. However, even with the insertion of 2000-ish cultural obsessions like YouTube, Facebook, and Myspace, the story Sean Wang presents of growing up is relatable to everyone. There is generational trauma in the Wang household as Chris and Vivian torment each other and Chungsing and Nai Nai go to war over parenting methods. While the father is not totally absent, the absence is still felt and the lingering pain travels within this family. Whether someone comes from a two-parent or a one-parent household, everyone can relate to the feeling of the sins (or worries/anxieties) of the parents being passed down to the kids. Trauma aside, Sean Wang’s naturalistic writing and direction hits hard on Chris’s feelings of not being adequate enough as a teenager, a boy, or a human; not knowing how to maturely deal with heartbreak; or not knowing how to deal or cope with teenage alienation. All of these feelings are real and are achingly felt through the film’s direction and performances. But for all of its real and heartbreakingly accurate moments of teenage pain, the film also makes you smile with nostalgia of your past teenage greatness and once that smile is on, it’s hard to wipe it off until the credits start rolling.
L-R: Izaac Wang as Chris Wang and Joan Chen as Chungsing Wang in writer/director Sean Wang’s DÌDI, a Focus Features release. Photo Credit: Focus Features / Talking Fish Pictures. © Talking Fish Pictures, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
There’s not much to boast about the digital presentation of Dìdi (弟弟). The film is presented in 4K with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. The subtitles are English and Spanish, and for the moments where Taiwanese dialect is spoken, English subtitles should automatically pop up on screen. For the Blu-ray release, there is a “making of” featurette including the cast and crew. For those who want more bang for their investment, I’d wait for the Blu-ray to release on 10/29/24, otherwise, you’re just paying for the film on digital and nothing else.
Dìdi Special Features:
- The Making of Dìdi (弟弟) – Official Featurette. A behind the scenes look into the making of this unique coming-of-age story set in the early 2000s, with commentary by director, cast and crew.
Available on digital September 3rd, 2024.
Available on Blu-ray and DVD October 29th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Focus Features Dìdi (弟弟) website.
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Categories: Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming
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