In Didi, a 13-year-old Taiwenese-American boy tries to find his way, navigating his first crush, attempting to figure out who he’s going to be, what culture he’ll belong to, and what “friends” will make him the coolest. One of the better coming-of-age dramas I’ve seen in quite some time, Didi is a sensational piece of small-scale filmmaking that deserves to be seen.
Writer/director Sean Wang gets real in this throwback to 2008, which has Chris (known as Wang-Wang to his friends, Didi to his family) chatting up a cute girl on MySpace and trying to impress some older skateboarders with his handheld filming skills, despite having zero filming skills. Wang nails the time period even though it’s a time period I didn’t know needed to be nailed. More importantly, the entire movie just pulses with young teenage energy–it feels like a male version of the excellent Eighth Grade.
Izaac Wang, who plays Chris, is simply electric; what a great performance by the young actor. You can practically see the raw emotions and hormones pounding through his temples, but his character doesn’t quite have the maturity to make them work to his advantage. It hopefully is a star-making turn for the kid.
The rest of the cast is great, too, with Joan Chen delivering a particularly poignant performance as the mom–a woman trapped between two cultures, tormented by her nagging mother-in-law. Chen gets some of the juiciest moments, and she rips them to shreds.
Didi is simply a terrific little drama about a kid trying to find his way–and a mom doing the same. Sean Wang delivers plaudits for his creation.
Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.