The crossing over of cultures is a theme Justin Chon (yes, the Twilight actor, he’s quite the filmmaker now) explored with his breakout 2017 feature, Gook. He further heads into that territory with Blue Bayou, which again sees him write, direct, and star. A major difference is that he now stars opposite an Oscar winner, Alicia Vikander, and the film is getting a major World Premiere slot at Cannes.
Chon and Vikander star as a married couple in small-town Louisiana, whose lives are thrown into chaos when he gets arrested and could be deported because of his immigration status, having been brought to the U.S. at the age of three.
Also in the cast are Mark O’Brien, Linh Dan Pham, Vondie Curtis-Hall, and Emory Cohen.
I would say that Chon has been knocking at the door of becoming a top-tier filmmaker and Blue Bayou could be what does it. Focus Features will release it into theaters on September 17th, but we’ll know the early reviews before then.
An official selection of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival from award-winning writer/director Justin Chon, Blue Bayou is the moving and timely story of a uniquely American family fighting for their future. Antonio LeBlanc (Chon), a Korean adoptee raised in a small town in the Louisiana bayou, is married to the love of his life Kathy (Alicia Vikander) and step-dad to their beloved daughter Jessie. Struggling to make a better life for his family, he must confront the ghosts of his past when he discovers that he could be deported from the only country he has ever called home.
