Dìdi (弟弟)

Blocking someone instead of expressing your true feelings perfectly captures the essence of this movie. Every moment felt authentic. It begins with a nostalgic MSM-YouTube vibe and plenty of teenage voice cracks. Watching Dìdi just being himself can be tough at times. But learning to handle emotions is important. Will I watch Dìdi again? Probably not. But should you see it? Definitely.

I hope all my homies wins the silent battles they don’t tell me about.

Per usual, another quality coming of age film that rocks. Happy to have checked this one and I am already looking forward to the rewatch.

Rating: 4.5/5 - 90% - Highly Recommend

“No room in the car” Cold. Blooded.

I thoroughly enjoyed this awkward at times nostalgia trip.

solid nostalgic flick, relatable af.

Rated a Connor 10, normal 9

Solid coming of age story that has a lot to say about family, friendship, figuring out who you are, who you want to be and what's important to you. Also an ode to mothers, I should have watched this with my mother it sure makes me want to go give her a hug right now. The storyline with his sister hit pretty hard too. The time period feels almost nostalgic to me (I was a little younger at the time) nice touch with the flip phones and early Facebook. I liked the techno drama bits with all the web pages, made me think of *Searching* and the vocabulary is true to the period. Izaac Wang and Joan Chen absolutely nailed it, very layered and emotional performances and great chemistry. It's a good-looking movie all around but it's nothing out of the ordinary, could have used more creativity. Some unexpected laughs like that fish who started talking out of nowhere, it's so silly but it fits in the movie so great mix of tones. I cried in those final few minutes and perfect ending. So relatable on every level, we all went through this.

A heartfelt coming of age story that covers familiar territory while still feeling fresh. Joan Chen completely steals the movie and puts it over the top.

Love feeling nostalgic for a time period that I definitely wasn't a teenager for.

I liked it for what it was, a coming of age. But as much as I was a young teenager in 2008 and enjoyed watching a representation of what that era was like, I'm worried that this will be the new nostalgia target for hollywood movies now that they're done with the 80s and almost the 90s.

With his feature film debut, director Sean Wang proves that he is not only capable of making very personal short films. “Dìdi” is a highly authentic, semi-autobiographical coming-of-age film. The cast of many fresh faces, almost all of whom have little experience in front of the camera, is also very beneficial to the overall mood. Especially because the casting department has succeeded in discovering some real young talents.

The way the setting in 2008 is realized is also strong. I still remember MySpace and all the rest very well and what it was like to be a teenager at that time. I have some minor criticisms because the beginning of main character Chris' story is much more interesting than the end. After all, the boy got on my nerves a bit in the second half of the movie. At the same time, Joan Chen, who plays Chris' mother, proves to be the movie's MVP. She has at least the strongest scenes towards the end and is certainly the main reason why “Dìdi” will stay in my memory.

All in all, it's a successful debut for Sean Wang. I'm definitely curious to see whether he sticks to his very personal approach in future works or tries to broaden his horizons. Whatever he decides to do, his next film will certainly be worth a look.