Review: ‘Didi’

It’s summertime – which means there’s at least one coming-of-age independent film gracing theaters and keeping audiences out of the heat. Instead of the derivative, inspiring and smooth narratives we are used to seeing in teen movies, Sean Wang’s first feature, Dídi, captures the chaotic and bewildering nature of growing up in the 2000s in a universal story.

Taking place the summer between his eighth and ninth-grade years, Chris Wang, is your typical teen growing up in 2008. He loves Myspace, AOL Instant Messenger and creating YouTube videos with his friends. Like most kids of that age, he spends a good amount of time on those sites as those webpages flash across the screen often giving us a front row seat into his psyche. Whether it’s Googling “how to kiss” for his first date or learning to film skaters to impress a new group of friends, Chris defines himself by his status online.

He lives with his artist mother, Chungsing (Joan Chen), his soon-to-be off to college sister, Vivian, and his paternal grandmother. She is played by Wang’s real-life grandmother Zhang Li Hua, who you may know from Nai Nai & Wài Pó, the Oscar-nominated documentary short the young filmmaker made during the pandemic that is currently streaming on Disney+.

Chris’s family dynamic is similar to most dysfunctional families, yet one of Dídi’s best qualities. His father is absent, working in Taiwan. His mother is gentle and genuinely wants to understand her son, a complete step away from the tiger parent stereotype we are so used to seeing Asian mothers portrayed as. He and Vivian fight like cats and dogs, before she realizes she will never live with him again and his grandmother is controlling, often insulting her daughter-in-law for her parenting style.

While all this is going on, Chris struggles with his friend group. Not knowing where to fit in or what to say, he often puts his foot in his mouth. Director Wang’s dialogue is smart and crisp. He understands that moment in time and how it affected that age group so well without being saccharine or precious. This can be seen in a scene where Chris tells a hilariously weird story about a dead squirrel in the park. Wang’s dialogue is funny while still capturing the social nuance that comes from that moment. He knows his leading character on a cellular level and shows him great empathy while dragging him through the trials of being a teenager.

Joan Chen is the heart of this film. As his mother, she brings a sense of calm but not the sense of security that Chris is seeking. Every moment she is on-screen, your eye navigates to her. While we don’t get a full POV of her inner life in the same way we see her son, there are glimpses of who she is. All of it is communicated by her eyes. Whether it’s her son’s apathy to her painting or her loneliness in her marriage, everything is subtly written on Joan Chen’s face.

Like Lady Bird, Mid 90s, and Eighth Grade, Dídi is the bittersweet coming-of-age film that satisfies the demographic it is representing while still being universal. Everyone was that shitty, bratty teenager at one point in their adolescence, yet it is still refreshing to see a depiction of a young Asian-American boy that doesn’t necessarily fit past representations. As a director, Sean Wang understands this age so well and knows how to visually portray it. Dídi does linger a beat too long, but its a film that stays with you long after the credits roll.

Dídi is now playing in select theaters and opens nationwide on August 16th.