Didi 2024
I got a free screening for this movie from Focus Features. While it is partly subtitled and has a Chinese name (meaning "little brother"), it is more American than I thought. The movie is about a teenage boy in Los Angeles. He is Chinese (maybe from Taiwan) and his mother and grandmother speak mostly Chinese, which is where the subtitles come in. It is a portrait of an immature and frustrated boy who is his own worst enemy as he gets in shouting matches with his sister and mother and seems to have a hard time making friends or dating. Because he isn't that sympathetic, it is hard to like the movie as much. All teens go through a lot, but he seems to cope less well than most and lashes out at people when his own poor choices backfire on him. It is marketed as funny and has its moments, but it seems mostly like a documentary of a household with a moody teenager in it. One thing it has going for it is that it is thankfully much shorter and less plodding than a Richard Linklater film. It is a decent enough portrait of this kid growing up around 2008, who no doubt eventually grows into a writer/director, but I don't know that material distinguishes itself. However, if you like movies like Boyhood and The Fabelmans, you should like this one too.
Written: 11 Aug 2024