Rating - 8.2:
Overall, a good coming-of-age comedy that uses a potpourri of original ideas like "Dìdi," "The Substance," and "Mean Girls" to create a satirically over-the-top look at the juxtaposition between minorities in predominantly white communities in America.
Direction - Good:
The direction on a macroscale is good as it does a good job building the world and juxtaposing these Chinese characters in a predominantly white community, in a very satirically over-the-top way; the direction on a microscale is good as you get a sense of the protagonist's struggle trying to fit in and how torn she is between wanting to be white yet still having her identity be Chinese; the storytelling is very similar to other Bildungsroman's
Story - Good to Very Good:
The concept itself is a potpourri of many original ideas into one, like "Dìdi," "The Substance," and "Mean Girls"; the plot structure is broken up into two halves with a strong inflection point; character writing is very good as the movie deals with coming-of-age, identity, and race juxtaposed in a predominantly white community, albeit in a very satirically over-the-top way
Screenplay - Good to Very Good:
The dialogue is sharp and combines elements of Chinese with over-the-top English to show a strong contrast between the two cultures; the humor is very overt and over-the-top, and this helps create this movie as a satire on race and identity; the symbolism is very strong as this movie has messages about adolescence, identity, and being a minority in a predominantly white community, albeit in a very satirical way; the foreshadowing is present and comes to life towards the end
Acting - Pretty Good to Good:
Shirley Chen - Good (Does a good job playing the Chinese version of the protagonist, as you get a sense of how her character is trying to fit in; she has good chemistry with the rest of the cast; she plays the typical coming-of-age character well), Mckenna Grace - Good (You can see the exuded confidence her character gets when she becomes white, and it has a good contrast with the Chinese family as she tries to become more white; she has good chemistry with the cast), Fang Du - Good (Plays the parental role very similar to Joan Chen's character in Dìdi as the father-daughter dynamic feels strong and comforting), Rest of the cast - Pretty Good (A majority of the characters play their roles well and do a good job creating this satirically over-the-top white community)
Score - Pretty Good:
Makes the movie feel very coming-of-age
Soundtrack - Pretty Good:
The poppy soundtrack makes the movie a coming-of-age comedy for a teenage Asian girl trying to fit in with a white community
Cinematography - Good:
I really was a fan of cinematography, as it felt auteur-driven, as they used film effectively; the change in aspect ratio from 4:3 to 16:9 after the protagonist completes the surgery, from Asian to White, was a nice touch
Editing - Good:
Felt polished
Production Design - Pretty Good:
Very over-the-top and intentional juxtapositions place this Chinese family in a predominantly white community
Makeup - Good:
Used well to show the transformations and add some body horror elements
Pacing - Pacing is the right pace as it does not feel too slow or fast, especially considering the inflection point feels like it happens at the right moment
Climax - The climax is executed very well and the movie ends strongly, even though it is a bit safe
Tone - The tone boils down to a coming-of-age film, masked with satirical, over-the-top comedy; it has elements of body horror as well
Final Notes - Saw the jury award narrative feature screening at SXSW.
