Film Review – DIDI (2024): Sean Wang’s Coming-of-Age Drama’s Realistic Situations Are Masterfully Portrayed
Dìdi Review
Dìdi (2024) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Sean Wang and starring Izaac Wang, Joan Chen, Shirley Chen, Zhang Li Hua, Mahaela Park, Raul Dial, Aaron Chang, Sunil Maurillo, Joziah Lagonoy, Joshua Hankerson and Georgie August.
We don’t see films like director Sean Wang’s Dìdi every day but if we did, we’d understand a lot more about life and its harsh realities rather than expecting life to always offer “happily-ever-afters” as so many Hollywood movies suggest life often does. That’s not to say Dìdi isn’t upbeat. A lot of it is but it’s also messy and awkward like real-life usually is. Sean Wang’s film is not about anything other than the day-to-day endeavors in the life of a Taiwanese teenager living in America. He is known as Chris or “Wang Wang” (Izaac Wang). Set around the year 2008 at the height of the internet’s popularity and at the beginning of Facebook’s reign over other social media sites, this movie offers a touching look at a teen who often feels isolated in the world. When he tries to find happiness, there are usually barriers that hold his life back from being what it could be. Sean Wang has crafted a moving picture chock full of humor that could appeal to anyone familiar with the time period or interested in the life of a teenager who doesn’t get everything he wants out of life.
Chris meets a girl named Madi (the perfectly cast Mahaela Park) and accidentally knocks on the door of a room where she’s hanging out with a friend (Georgie August). Chris is trying to get to the bathroom but gets to talk briefly to Madi. They end up “chatting” through messages on Facebook and Chris looks at her profile and sees her list of favorite movies. By pretending to like A Walk to Remember, Chris forges a friendship with Madi. When some friends goof around with text messages to Madi from Chris’s phone, Chris is presented with the potential opportunity to kiss Madi. He studies a kissing video on the web in a hilarious scene.
Meanwhile, Chris has had difficulties with the relationship between him and his close-in-age sister, Vivian (Shirley Chen). They fight more than anything else. Their mom, Chungsing (the great Joan Chen), is a struggling artist who is trying to make a name for herself while raising her kids. Her husband, the kids’ dad, is working in Taiwan and sending cash to the family to survive. Chris has aspirations to make skateboarding videos but he needs to learn of a more effective way to make them. Chris has friends but they often come and go. One awkward scenario has three teenagers that he’s hanging out with abandoning him by telling him they can’t fit him in the car they drive off in. So, Chris has to call his mom to pick him up.
Dìdi is ultra-realistic. The scenes of “chatting” on the internet are done in a way that will remind viewers of how the internet really was back 16 years ago. A funny bit has someone’s Facebook status stating that he’s going to see The Dark Knight for like the sixth time as teenagers often did back then to make sure all their friends saw the most popular movie at the time. The most humorous scene is between Madi and Chris as she asks him what color he thinks Yoda is from the Star Wars movies. She knows Chris has never seen Star Wars and the resulting exchanges between the characters in this scene are wonderfully orchestrated.
The heart of Dìdi, though, is in its depiction of the family unit it presents to the audience. Joan Chen is subtle at times in the performance of her role but the actress’s character gets to beautifully deliver some life lessons to Chris at the end that shed light on her existence and her disappointments (and joys) in life. As the sister, Shirley Chen is remarkably on-point by showing how her character cares for her brother despite their differences. The real scene-stealer, though, is Zhang Li Hua as the kids’ grandma, Nai Nai. If Li Hua had a slightly bigger part, she’d all but be assured to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She puts Chungsing in her place at times and goes on about how important Chris’s education is. There are plenty of spot-on moments with the grandmother that are some of the highlights of the movie. Since Joan Chen has more screen time, she’s likely to pull off the nomination for Best Supporting Actress and take it right out from under Li Hua. And, let’s not forget Izaac Wang whose earnest performance as Chris puts him on the map as a rising star to keep an eye on.
In the end, Dìdi will surprise viewers in how the story line takes sharp dramatic turns as things all become more complicated than they were expected to be for Chris. A lesser film would have tied everything up neatly with a bow at the end and have the possibility of a romance for Chris in the future. Dìdi is smarter than that. This film is aware of how life never works out as one would expect it to. That’s its greatest asset. This is a stand-out gem in a summer of solid (and not so great) films and should not be missed.
Rating: 8.5/10
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