Knock on Wood

It takes a certain skill to craft a story so reliant on personal experience that also has mass appeal – in fact, that might be what every director strives to do. Every movie is a miracle, but a semi-autobiographical film that finds mainstream popularity is an even bigger one. It proves the legitimacy of the medium and validates the need for such stories, showing us that someone else’s life story (however fictionalized) can strike a chord with audiences decades after the events that inspired it.

Just days before his heartwarming documentary short Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó secured a nomination at this year’s Academy Awards, writer/director Sean Wang debuted his first feature, which is (surprise surprise!) a coming-of-age comedy based on Wang’s own upbringing, at the Sundance Film Festival. The film, Dìdi (which translates to “younger brother” in Chinese), is the most recent in a horrifying epidemic – that of period pieces that have started to take place within my lifetime. Dìdi is set during the dawn of YouTube and follows its protagonist, Chris (Izaac Wang), as he attempts to navigate shifting social dynamics, a difficult relationship with his mother, and his first crush, all while trying to build a reputation online with his videos.

It may not be the most original of premises, but the effectiveness all depends on the execution. Not since Eighth Grade and mid90s have I seen such a perfect encapsulation of adolescent awkwardness, and that’s what Dìdi leans on…hard. It’s the sort of film that is only possible with the benefit of pure hindsight, and clearly, Sean Wang is not afraid of the realization that we were all awkward and weird growing up, and the best way to acknowledge it is to embrace it – not just with cringe humor, but with an honesty that’s important when dealing with this sort of retrospective.

Izaac Wang, who has previously held supporting roles in films like Clifford the Big Red Dog and Raya and the Last Dragon (in addition to the lead in the criminally underseen Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai), is the perfect choice to showcase the brutal reality of being a young teen in the mid-2000s. He’s moody, he’s awkward, and he’s sweet – all of which make Chris feel like a real person. Oftentimes, he’s sympathetic and likable, but sometimes, he’s a jerk, and there’s no way we can endorse his actions. But Sean Wang’s cleverness comes in that we cannot judge Chris without first judging ourselves. Who among us has not gotten infuriated with a parent through no fault of their own, and expressed it more harshly than we should have? Joan Chen (best known for Twin Peaks) delivers an excellent performance as Chungsing, Chris’ mother, whose emotion underscores everything the movie is trying to say about the beautiful imperfection of parents’ relationships with their hormonal tweens. I wouldn’t be disappointed if she got an Oscar nomination next year. God knows she’s overdue for one.

Dìdi is a perfectly preserved time capsule of a movie, executed with the care and precision that imbues it with an instantly authentic feel. Sean Wang knows how to tell a story, and he clearly knows how to evoke emotion – Dìdi’s emotional pathos is capped off by a beautiful final scene that just about brought me to tears. It’s an unfettered look at adolescence that has both a harsh sting, but hidden below it is a soft cushion, reminding us that everything is going to be all right. In the end, it doesn’t matter how the stories we tell ourselves about our own lives compare with what actually happened – they are memories we will have forever, no matter how much we wish we could forget looking up internet videos on how to kiss.

Dìdi opens in select theaters on July 26.