Izaac Wang, left, and Mahaela Park in a scene from Didi.Courtesy of Focus Features / Talking Fish Pictures/The Associated Press
Didi
Written and directed by Sean Wang
Starring Izaac Wang, Shirley Chen and Joan Chen
Classification 14A; 91 minutes
Opens in select theatres Aug. 2
Critic’s Pick
A wonderfully uncomfortable, deeply hilarious coming-of-age movie, the new film Didi plays like an extended and surprisingly welcome visit to the filmmaker’s childhood bedroom, if it happened to be preserved in the amber-ooze of Mountain Dew Code Red circa 2008.
That is the year – the summer, specifically – in which 13-year-old Chris, a.k.a. Didi (Izaac Wang), is trying to figure out so much of himself and his ever-changing surroundings. Living with his Taiwanese single mother Chungsing (Joan Chen), college-bound sister Vivian (Shirley Chen), and nai nai/grandmother (Chang Li Hua) in the suburbs of Fremont, Calif., Didi doesn’t seem to be interested in much other than arguing with his family, skateboarding and trying to get closer to his crush, Madi (Mahaela Park).
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There are awkward house parties, furtive conversations over AOL Messenger, and brief flirtations with videography, the latter coming along after Didi convinces a group of older boys that he can record their skateboarding tricks like a young Spike Jonze (who offers a quick voice cameo here as a, well, dead squirrel). But mostly, this is a film of atmosphere, vibes and character. And that is all writer-director Sean Wang, in his feature-length debut, really needs.
The young, relatively untested Wang is a true find, managing to hold his own against screen veteran Joan Chen, left, who plays Chungsing as if she is carrying the entire family’s myriad shames and secrets on her shoulders.Courtesy of Focus Features / Talking Fish Pictures/The Associated Press
Very obviously mining his own youth for the material, Wang does a remarkable job of digging deep into the uglier, more cringeworthy corners of his memory, a courageous route given that so many other storytellers might instead choose to sit in the comfortable corners of sun-dappled nostalgia.
Frequently selfish and an inveterate liar – not to mention being unbearably cruel to his lonely mother over and over again – Didi can be a hard character to root for. But that’s exactly why Wang’s film hits as hard as it does. Didi might be a jerk, but who wasn’t at his age? There is a relatability here that is both painful and poignant to recognize, and should send more than a few men, and women, in the audience straight to their mother’s house to deliver some belated adolescent apologies.
As the title character, Wang offers a delicate and edgy performance. The young, relatively untested actor is a true find. He even manages to hold his own against screen veteran Chen (The Last Emperor, Twin Peaks), who plays Chungsing as if she is carrying the entire family’s myriad shames and secrets on her shoulders.
Wang’s ability to conjure memories and moods extends to the film’s era-appropriate aesthetic. This is a movie that feels sticky, lived-in, rough around the edges, just like Didi’s well-kept but dated middle-class home. The set design is also so perfect that it hurts, crammed as it with so many early-aughts fashion and tech that it’s mortifying to realize that these were the standards of the time. More than once – whether it was when Didi was trading random insults with his friends online or watching, and rewatching, the same early YouTube clips – I muttered to myself that I, too, had wasted so much of my teenage life.
Except in Wang’s case, nothing was wasted. Moviegoers now have Didi, after all.
Didi's set design is so perfect that it hurts, crammed as it with so many early-aughts fashion and tech that it’s mortifying to realize that these were the standards of the time.Courtesy of Focus Features / Talking Fish Pictures/The Associated Press