From the first moments of Sean Wang’s debut feature, Dìdi, I knew I was in for a nostalgic, highly relatable experience. With references to early-day YouTube, AOL Instant Messenger, and Paramore within its early scenes, the film bears a lot of familiar iconography of my youth. But as it goes on, I couldn’t help but be struck by how our protagonist, Chris, handled the situations he finds himself in. Like most teenagers, he wants to be accepted, which sometimes leads him to make some questionable decisions. This gives off some serious secondhand embarrassment, which might have made me extremely uncomfortable if it wasn’t so truthful. Dìdi takes place in 2008, and as someone who was roughly the same age as the character of Chris at that time, much of it hit pretty close to home for me. I remember the awkwardness of being a teenager and trying to fit in just like Chris does throughout the film, and I was pleasantly surprised by how realistically the film portrays this. It has its main character make mistakes and be forced to sit with them, which doesn’t always happen in coming of age movies, but is true to life. It’s the film’s particular portrayal of youth, brought on by the film’s semi-autobiographical nature, that really stuck with me and had me thinking back on my own teenage years. It may hit some familiar beats along the way, but Sean Wang’s personal touches elevate the film, and ends up being a touching, sometimes discomforting, ode to growing up in the late 2000s.
In 2008, 13-year-old Chris Wang (Izaac Wang) is enjoying the last month of summer before he starts high school. He spends most of his time hanging out with his friends, filming videos and putting them on YouTube, and learning how to skateboard. As summer draws to a close, Chris finds his world changing as his sister prepares to leave for college, he begins talking to a girl he has a crush on, and he meets a group of cool skaters to name a few. He also finds himself developing a new attitude towards his mother, Chungsing (Joan Chen), and is often rude to her. With high school fast approaching, Chris tries to balance all of the changes in his life, and begins to learn some important lessons in the process.
I love a good coming of age movie, and Dìdi is the first one I’ve seen that accurately portrays the specific era that I grew up in. It perfectly captures the late 2000s in many ways, and reminded me so much of my teenage years. I was particularly struck by how well Wang integrates the internet into this film, as it manages to make it feel quite engaging. Other filmmakers have struggled to depict internet culture on film, either because it feels pandering or they just can’t crack the code on how to properly translate it. But Wang’s approach feels fresh and manages to make scenes of the character using social media or watching YouTube feel cinematic. This is largely thanks to the editing which is excellent throughout, but is so strongly felt in how it is used during the film’s internet-centric moments. The editing, especially when we are just seeing what Chris is seeing on his computer screen, conveys some surprisingly strong emotions, and helps move the story along quite well.
Beyond that, the film injects so many artifacts of the time, that it was hard for me not to get a little nostalgic. From the aforementioned internet sequences, to a brief moment where characters are watching Superbad at a party, to a reference to ringback tones, the film crams in a lot of period-specific details that I was not expecting to see. Normally, the sheer quantity of nostalgic elements this film has might rub me the wrong way, but I couldn’t help but be a little impressed by what all Wang includes to make this feel like an honest-to-God period piece. The only other film I can recall that captures the 2000s anywhere near as well as this film does is Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, which functions as a bit of a time capsule for the decade. I can see this element of the film bothering some viewers, as it is extremely prominent throughout, but I actually thought it comes across rather authentically in the film, and truly puts the viewer in the summer of 2008.
Even though this film will likely connect most with people who were teens during the late 2000s, there’s still plenty here that those who didn’t can relate to. First loves, trying to be cool, and developing your passions are just a few universalities of growing up that show up in this film, and should ring true for most people. A lot of this is baked into the story that Sean Wang is telling, but is filtered through his own lens. However, there are parts of the film that feel a bit formulaic. The specificity of the film is what makes it so special, and it is great when it focuses on that. The parts that feel like it’s playing the same beats as other coming of age movies take away from the film ever so slightly, and clash with the rest of the film. Most of the film feels original and unique, which makes these scenes stick out quite a bit, but it thankfully doesn’t take away too much from the film as a whole.
Every good coming of age film has a great protagonist, and Dìdi certainly delivers on that front. But what makes Chris Wang such an interesting character is that the film allows him to mess up and sit with his mistakes. The film isn’t concerned with making him likable, but instead making him feel like a real teenager. Chris is written very well, but the character’s success is partially due to Izaac Wang’s performance. Wang is so natural in the role, often feeling like we’re watching a young boy just live his life. The character might make frustrating decisions, but they feel like the poor choices a young person trying to figure out life might make. Wang also handles the intense teenage angst the character experiences so well, taking the big feelings of adolescence and portraying them in a way that doesn’t feel melodramatic. It’s a solid performance that shows great talent, and has me curious to see where Wang’s career goes from here.
The performance that impressed me the most, however, is that of Joan Chen. Chen has been a beloved actor for a while now, but her work here serves as a staggering reminder of what she’s capable of. As Chris’s mom, Chungsing, Chen brings a lot of interesting layers to her role. She loves her children and goes above and beyond to care for them, but is constantly torn down by her mother-in-law, who holds her to an impossibly high standard and frequently ridicules her. Chen masks her true feelings for most of the film, pretending that everything is okay. However, the intense pressure she feels to be both a good mother and a successful artist simmers under the surface, until she is able to release some of it in the back half of the film. She is incredible throughout, but her monologue near the end of the film that allows her to fully express herself blew me away. Suffice to say, Chen is outstanding in this film, and gives one of my personal favorite performances of the year.
Dìdi is a film that may have connected with me more than it will for most, but I can definitely see this living up to its “For anyone who has ever been a teenager” tagline for many viewers. It manages to tell a rather personal story while also feeling quite relatable in a number of ways, which is no easy feat. Sean Wang is able to pull off some remarkable things with this film, and the fact that this is his debut feature makes it all the more impressive. Dìdi really spoke to me, both as a nostalgic view of the late 2000s and as a coming of age tale, and is far more touching than I would have guessed. This is a special little film, and one that I will likely return to if I want to take a trip down memory lane. Its strange blend of awkwardness and warmth captures so much of the emotions of growing up in a way few films can, and beautifully mirrors some of the experiences I and so many others went through in our youth.
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