Happyend

Trying not to do the borderline racist thing where we see Asian director so we compare him to another director that is also Asian, but this feels like it was cribbed right from Edward Yang. A beautiful and touching movie about the interpersonal relationships between youths on the edge of change, both in their social world (graduating) and in the world at large. The fear of drifting apart, but realizing maybe you already has. Happyend and Old Joy would make an interesting double bill.

TIFF 2024: Moments of teenage ambition & delinquency captured with playful elegance. The lingering threats of surveillance culture, racial tension, and natural disaster never completely converge but instead function as a sort of invisible constriction closing in on the characters, forcing them to confront each other beyond the veil of childhood. The cast of non-actors were fantastic- and carried the film even when it ran out of new things to say.