At The Movies: Asian-American tale Didi captures the awkward essence of teenage life

Didi (NC16)

94 minutes, opens on Aug 1, exclusively at The Projector
4 stars

The story: It is 2008 and Chris Wang (Izaac Wang) is a 13-year-old Taiwanese-American kid living in California with his mother Chungsing (Joan Chen), sister Vivian (Shirley Chen) and grandmother (Chang Li Hua). Chris is desperate to fit in, but feels like a failure on all fronts. He could never be as confident as his friend Fahad (Raul Dial) nor as scholastically high-achieving as other kids in the Asian community. Taiwanese-American writer-director Sean Wang’s debut scripted feature won the Audience Award in the US Dramatic section of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Poor Chris. This story – the title of which means “little brother” in Mandarin, but which might as well be called Everybody Hates Chris – stands as a test of one’s ability to not groan out loud. The lad makes one critical lapse in judgment after another. Not because his missteps are dumb, but because they are so relatable. One burns with embarrassment for him and for the times one has made a similarly hideous faux pas.

On the surface, there is not much to this charming, creatively shot and vibrantly edited coming-of-age tale. Like the few weeks in the teen’s life that it captures, it feels ephemeral, a season that will fade from memory once the pace of life quickens.

The story is rich in small moments, which film-maker Wang captures with the precision of a scientist fixing a microscope slide. When Chris’ non-Asian friends visit his home, his mum reflexively brings them a plate of cut fruit. He reads his friends’ smiles of pleasure as derision, triggering another moment when he wishes she were cooler, like the parents of his white friends. Like so many teens, Chris is his own worst enemy.

Growing up Chinese in the US has messed with the boy’s sense of self, making his transition to teenhood trickier than it already is.

Stylistically, Wang draws on everything from the drama Stand By Me (1986) to the raunchy comedy Superbad (2007). From Stand By Me, adapted from a Stephen King story and directed by Rob Reiner, Wang has taken the rich complexity of boyhood friendships. The vivacious Fahad is everything Chris wants to be, causing Chris to oscillate between jealousy and admiration. From Superbad comes the idea that kids are funniest when they are at their dumbest and most vulnerable.

Didi, however, features a propulsive visual mode not found in either film. Get a glimpse of Wang’s lyrical yet realistic style in the award-winning short documentary Nai Nai & Wai Po (2023), which is available on Disney+.

The sense of realism is greatly helped by the cast’s strong performances, in particular the stellar one given by Chen. When a veteran can hold her own against the easy naturalism of child actors, it says something about her talent.

As Chungsing, an embattled single parent beset by two combative teens and a harshly critical mother-in-law, the China-born actress will break hearts, leading one to wonder why Hollywood has yet to beat down her door.

Early rumours are the film will do well when awards season rolls around in 2025. One hopes that this warmly rendered snapshot of puberty will do as well as Asian-American story Minari (2020). That had six Oscar nominations, including a Best Supporting Actress win for South Korean veteran Youn Yuh-jung. May the buzz build, because Didi deserves it.

Hot take: This “didi’s” unerring ability to put his foot in it will have viewers bent over, either in laughter or cringing in sympathy.