Dìdi

About as authentic as you can possibly get in its time and place, culture, and coming of age details. It's a reminder of how hard growing up can be, with social media a depressing presence, the feeling of saying or doing all the wrong things, and then on top of it dealing with little lines like "you're pretty cute for an Asian" which hit like a dagger. The relationships between the family members are brilliantly written (including the dad working overseas notably playing zero role), and the film defies any kind of simple feel-good turn in its plotting, yet somehow leaves us with the feeling that the boy will survive all this, maybe the visual arts club being the first step to finding his path. Great performances all around, with my favorite moment being the grandmother going on and on, exaggerating the harm coming to the boy's future life. Also loved the on-location filming in Fremont, CA, with the houses (outside and inside), parks, hills, streets, etc all resonating.