Screened at the Princeton Garden Theatre by Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Movies on Friday and Saturday, the film “Dìdi” (2024) tells the humorous and introspective coming-of-age story of 13-year-old Taiwanese-American Chris Wang as he navigates first crushes, family drama, friendships, and fitting in.
“It is an ode to the joy and pain of adolescence,” Taiwanese American director Sean Wang wrote of his debut film in an Instagram post.
With a runtime of only 1 hour and 33 minutes, the film initially garnered acclaim at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, winning the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award and U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble Cast before its release to public theaters on Aug. 16.
Part of the film’s appeal comes from its originality, both in genre and cultural representation. In a movie industry filled with action flicks and rom-coms, “Dìdi” goes against the grain by presenting a contemplative portrait of growing up Taiwanese American in late 2000s California. Yet the film also deviates from the standard template of a coming-of-age story: It is raw, at times heart wrenching, and it doesn’t shy away from taboo subjects. The R-rated film ventures into the territory of sex, drugs, and alcohol use as seen through the eyes of a 13-year-old trying to find himself. In doing so, it tells a real, unsanitized story of childhood.
At the Saturday late night showing, the film certainly resonated with its intended audience. The film elicited laughter and tears as it brought to life both the universal experience of growing up and the nuances of an Asian American household. Its spot-on cultural representation came through in its set design, particularly in Chris’s home, where much of the story takes place. With inside shoes at the front door, a dishrag draped over the sink faucet, the cozy untidiness of its countertops, and its antique wallpaper and curtains, Chris’s home felt like an echo of my childhood home. When visitors walk into the house with their shoes on in one scene — a major faux pas in most Asian American households — the audience at Garden Theatre rumbled with discontented groans, attesting to the unspoken understanding of house rules.
Indeed, one of the strengths of the movie is its ability to represent cultural norms in many Asian American communities. From the importance of shared meals to the care of the grandparent generation, from gossip between moms about their kids’ competitive hobbies to assumptions about the hierarchy of college admissions, “Dìdi” repeatedly strikes a chord with its audience.
Chris also struggles to reconcile his Asian and American identity, often rejecting household rules. His tumultuous relationship with his cultural identity may be best represented by his many names. The title of the film itself – Dìdi – is the name his mother calls him. His legal name is Chris Wang. Yet throughout the film, he vacillates on how to introduce himself. “My friends call me WangWang,” he says at one point. His friend-given nickname earns him status with some and ridicule with others; one girl mockingly likens it to the sound a bird makes.
Chris’s relationship with labels and his desire to divorce himself from his own Asianness drives the conflict of the film as he searches for belongingness. At a party, he’s lauded for accidentally ingesting drugs, but when the partygoers begin to chant “Asian Chris,” he hastens to clarify that he’s only “half Asian.”
Director Sean Wang noted that the film, in the making for over seven years, came from a personal place. “I, like many other first-generation Asian American kids, grew up wanting to be less Asian,” he wrote.
The film captures this cultural conflict well not just through Chris’s storyline but also those of his mother, his older sister, and his grandmother. Through the movie, we get a peek into generational differences and varying stages of acculturation. His mother, a first-generation immigrant, has sacrificed her dreams of an art career to become the caretaker of the family. His grandmother, who lives with them, laments the absence of her son — Chris’s father, who is in Taiwan — and the state of the Americanized household. His sister is eager to break free of the household as she transitions to college.
The leading cast, featuring 16-year-old actor Izaac Wang as Chris and actress Joan Chen as his mother, portray these story arcs skillfully throughout dinner table conversations and car-ride arguments. Hip hop beats and montages lighten the mood, while hilarious DM sequences on MySpace keep the audience entertained. “Dìdi” is compact, emotional, and compelling: an authentic glimpse into cultural struggle and personal growth.
Dìdi is currently showing at the Garden Theatre. Visit the Garden Theatre website for tickets and showtimes.
Jessica Wang is a member of the Class of 2026 and a staff writer for the Prospect at the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at jessica.wang[at]princeton.edu.
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