Dìdi

“As a Japanese American skater, I couldn’t have imagined back then that a movie like Dìdi would one day capture this exact vibe.”

Title: Dìdi (2024) / Chinese: 弟弟
Director: Sean Wang 👨🏻🇺🇸
Writer: Sean Wang 👨🏻🇺🇸

Reviewed by Chris 👨🏻🇺🇸

Technical: 4.5/5

It’s probably going on 25 years now, but I can still remember the disbelief at seeing my childhood friend Rocky land his first kickflip. We failed back and forth for days on his parents’ driveway, but he finally stomped one and cemented a core childhood memory. In comparison, I can barely remember adulthood milestones that should stand out; major moves, birthdays, and graduations all sort of smooth together. Maybe my life experiences were limited at that age, so little moments got magnified.

Dìdi, Sean Wang’s feature directorial debut which recently screened at Seattle International Film Festival, bottles those moments along with all the accompanying teen angst, uncertainty, and excitement. And while cinema is no stranger to tales of adolescence, Dìdi brings something new to the table. The story filters through a semi-autobiographical lens centered on Chris Wang (Izaac Wang), a Taiwanese American kid and his family. Set in the 2000s in a Northern California suburb during Chris’ summer between middle school and high school, Dìdi hits all the right notes and folds you into the action. Drama plays out over period-typical platforms like AIM conversations and MySpace, and with people in my theater yelling at agonizing moments of seeing text getting typed out, deleted, revised, and (gulp) sent, it’s clear just how affected the crowd was by Wang’s storytelling.

The film’s more action-oriented sequences are just as engrossing. Chris always seems to be videotaping something and Dìdi artfully cuts in footage from his handheld camcorder. The chaotic and unstable shots make you feel like you’re part of his crew, scream-shouting while getting chased out of a skate spot by security. Having been in those exact scenarios—chased out of spots by security or campus police with my skate friends as a teenager—I couldn’t have imagined back then that a movie would one day capture this exact vibe. And not just skate vibes, which Jonah Hill’s Mid90s (2018) and others have handily delivered before, but a skate movie with the level of diversity I recognized in my own group of Japanese and Macanese American friends. Watching this film felt surreal in the best way possible.

Gender: 4/5
Does it pass the Bechdel Test? YES, but barely

Women in Dìdi revolve mostly around Chris and his father (who works to support the family from Taiwan and never appears in the film). But they still have crucial roles: Chris and his older sister Vivian (Shirley Chen) are raised by their immigrant mom Chungsing (Joan Chen) and nǎi nai, their paternal grandma played by the director’s real-life grandma (Zhang Li Hua). Importantly, Dìdi avoids stereotyping Chungsing as a struggling or unaware immigrant mother. She employs intelligence, creativity, self-respect, introspection, and affection to care for her kids and nǎi nai under challenging circumstances. Chungsing’s personal journey involves the ongoing criticism she endures from nǎi nai about her parenting. In an uncomfortable scene, what starts as an argument over dishwashing quickly escalates. After nǎi nai shouts that her son “does everything for this family,” Chungsing stands up for herself, asserting that while her husband may support them financially, she “is the reason their family has a home.” Scenes like this highlight Chungsing’s dimensionality while recognizing her emotional labor as a mother and wife—labor that so often goes invisible in male-driven narratives.

I also appreciate the film’s approach of letting the toxic conversations of teenage boys stand on their own, allowing viewers to sort out their own feelings about the sexist behavior taking place in front of them. During an intimate encounter between Chris and his crush Madi (Mahaela Park), she briefly “touches [Chris’] weiner” before he becomes nervous and stops things from going further. But when Chris’ friend Fahad (Raul Dial) later asks him how things went, Chris proudly exaggerates the encounter, gaining Fahad’s approval (“Wait, she gave you a handjob!? I’ve seriously never been more proud of you.”). We can tell that Chris enjoys the validation and the film moves into the next scene, leaving a deep sense of unease for the viewer to parse through on their own time.

Race: 5/5
Dìdi’s cast is composed almost entirely of people of color, many of them young and/or first-time actors who bring an extra layer of believability to their performances. On screen, the story tackles issues unique to Asian American and immigrant families. A dinner scene between Chris, Chungsing, and their family friends—another Asian American mother and son—shows the insidious damage exerted by the model minority stereotype. When Chungsing praises her friend’s son for his obedience and 4.0 GPA, we see Chris get hit by waves of shame and inadequacy for failing to achieve this standard. In contrast, Chris is the kid who stuffs a dead squirrel (voiced by Spike Jonze) into a neighbor’s mailbox and films its explosion. By simply centering this flawed teen who makes (so many) mistakes, Wang skewers the unrealistic expectations American society has for people of Asian descent.

Again, it’s great how the movie makes viewers do some work for themselves. Going back to the scene with Madi and Chris, Madi affectionately remarks that Chris is pretty cute “for an asian.” Chris doesn’t really react one way or the other, leaving it up to the audience to sort out why they feel uncomfortable rather than spoon-feeding them an answer.

Mediaversity Grade: A- 4.50/5

It feels rare that a film captures the rawness of early adolescence with such high fidelity. And while its resonance might amplify some of the cringey moments, it’s also nice to feel so attuned to what’s happening. The writing, filming, editing, and especially Dìdi’s culturally specific lens all work in tandem beautifully. And while the movie might recall some familiar coming-of-age stories, it still settles in with the best of them—perhaps among the best Hollywood films in general.

Like Dìdi? Try these other titles showing directors in action.

Grade: ALiJune 7, 2024Great for: Race