Dìdi (弟弟)

Didi transported me back to my earliest memories of growing up in Nepal. It took me back to my childhood home— sitting in front of the computer scrolling endlessly on Facebook “poking” random people. Still don’t know what the point of that feature was. It took me back to the street in front of my house where I would play all day in the sun, doing things that surely got me yelled at. I remembered fighting with my sister, screaming at each other, clawing at each other and then an hour later, just getting along like nothing happened. Didi brought so much back to my mind and I’m so happy for that.  I grew up without any internet supervision so I was constantly online. Always posting on my “wall”, pm’ing people and looking up things that made me curious. Anyone else remember Howcast’s “how to kiss” series on YouTube? That was a time. While Didi takes place in 2008, it’s still so much relatable to me. Being a teenager in early 2010s was tough and god, this film just depicts everything so well. Every bit of anxiety, self doubt and cluelessness I felt growing up is shown here just so wonderfully and it’s just too real. Izaac Wang does a fantastic job as Chris. He carries the film. You understand all of Chris’s frustrations, insecurities and flaws and awkwardness. It’s genuinely such a good performance. Shirley Chen, as Chris’ sister is also pretty good. She reminded me a lot of my older sister. We would fight a lot but we also loved each other. And we’d rather die than admit it out loud. Instead the love would come out in moments where we really needed each other. Shirley Chen totally nails that big sister vibe. The standout for me however was Joan Chen. She’s so good here as Chris’ mother. I wanted to apologize to my mom for every time I was a brat after watching Chen in the film. Genuinely such a quiet, understated and phenomenal performance.  Overall, Didi was such a fantastic film. I connected to it a lot. I know it’s going to get overshadowed by the bigger films that are out in theaters currently but I’m really hoping people go see it. I think every one will be able to relate to this in some way.  Also fun fact (idk if it’s fun): Didi means big sister in Nepali.