Slanted (2025)

"It's good to be white."

A social satire about a Chinese girl who immigrates to America where she's confronted with the feeling of being an "other" while entrenched in a culture that celebrates the typical blonde, blue-eyed "ideal." As she struggles to fit in at her high school among her heritage, she undergoes an "ethnic modification" procedure to help achieve her dream of being voted prom queen and finally accepted among the popular clique. The title takes on a two-part meaning as everyone's viewpoint also appears to be slanted. Like other socially conscious body horror (e.g. The Substance and The Beauty), the obsession with beauty and perfection is constantly in our faces since the day we're born. I realize it's an obvious satire of conformity, but it's a sad state of affairs when everyone wants to be the same, especially when she was so beautiful to begin with. 

3 dyed roots out of 5

Dìdi (2024)

(Chinese: 弟弟; literally 'Younger Brother')

I'm not gonna lie. This movie made me feel really, really, really (really) down in the dumps afterwards. For so many reasons, I don't even know how to get into it. For example, because we're already making nostalgic coming-of-age movies about kids growing up in 2008 (I've never felt so old). But also for so many things I could both relate to and not relate to at all. 

Chris Wang is a 13-year-old who lives in California with his immigrant mother and teenage sister. He struggles to assimilate with American culture and cruel classmates who harbor prejudice towards him, while he attempts to win over the affections of his school crush, and generally making poor decisions along the way. I can of course relate to fucking everything up unintentionally with people and somehow always doing the wrong thing, no matter what.

It's a good movie, though; just hard for me to watch.

3 AIM conversations out of 5