In the summer of 2008, Chris Wang, a 13-year-old Taiwanese-American boy, stumbles his way through friendship, family, and identity. He slouches in and out of the house where he lives with his mother, sister, and grandmother, never truly knowing what he’s doing or where he’s trying to go. He runs around with his friends—new and old—never feeling like he fully belongs with either group. He attempts to get closer to his crush, Madi, but fumbles and ends up alienating her in the midst of his angst. He tries so hard, and fails equally hard.
This is the curse of adolescence—an overdramatic existential ennui where everything is simultaneously A Big Deal and Not A Big Deal At All—and Chris serves as a painfully authentic reminder of how much we also struggled when we were 13.
Young actor Izaac Wang plays Chris perfectly, capturing an earnest desperation that is both sympathetic and repulsive.
“It’s funny,” Wang says. “My initial impression was that I didn’t really like the character very much at all. It really wasn’t because Sean [Wang] wrote a bad character or that the script was bad. It was mostly just because [the character] was insecure, you know?”
Like many 13-year-olds, insecurity is Chris’s primary driving force. It’s evident in the way he carries himself, the way he looks down more than up, and the expression on his face when his crush Madi’s insipid little friend makes fun of his last name.
He never feels like enough. Not smart or accomplished enough for his mother to brag about to her acquaintances, not charming or man enough to woo Madi, and not sure enough of what it means to be Taiwanese-American. And at his quietest, most vulnerable moments, free from the posturing and performance of immature masculinity, Chris’s humanity shines.
I keep fucking everything up, he writes, depressed, to a rudimentary AI chatbot. Everyone hates me and I have no friends.
It’s so easy to judge Chris throughout this film. We cringe, roll our eyes, and sigh at his behavior—right up until this moment, when all of his protective layers have been flayed to reveal the raw flesh beneath.
“I’ve never tried to book a dramatic lead role,” Wang says. “And specifically for a character that was a little bit more vulnerable than me, and a little bit more under-confident. [Chris] just had an urge to fit in, which I didn’t have at that time. I had to dig a little deeper into myself and realize that my younger self—my 13- to 14-year-old self—was actually just like Chris.”
That’s what makes “Dìdi (弟弟)” (2024) such standout from other coming-of-age films. This isn’t a typical hero’s journey where the protagonist struggles a little, overcomes obstacles, defeats his enemies, and gets the girl. In this film, the hero struggles a lot, trips repeatedly over obstacles, turns his friends into enemies, and doesn’t even come close to getting the girl. Because Chris isn’t a hero and we shouldn’t expect him to be; he’s a 13-year-old boy trying to learn how he fits into society just like everyone else.
In giving Chris a little grace for his very normal teenage messiness, we give our past selves grace for our own messiness.
The end of the film signals a shift, subtle but tectonic. It’s not quite a new beginning, because Chris is not reinventing himself. Instead, he’s getting more comfortable with himself, holding his head higher and walking through high school halls with shoulders relaxed instead of slouched.
When asked about what Chris’s high school experience might be like, Izaac Wang answers, “He’d probably gain more confidence. He’d probably make more friends. But I feel like he would never, ever get a girlfriend.”
Perhaps not. Or perhaps he will.
“Hopefully he’d get a haircut and get rid of his bowl cut,” Wang jokes. “Hopefully he increases his fashion sense a little bit.”
But whatever choices Chris makes in high school and beyond, “I hope the number one thing that he takes away from this is to gain more self-confidence and be more proud of yourself and who you are.”
“Dìdi (弟弟)” (2024) is now playing in select theaters, Everywhere August 16.
Director: Sean Wang
Writer: Sean Wang
Cast: Izaac Wang, Joan Chen, Shirley Chen, Zhang Li Hua, Mahaela Park
Cover photo: Courtesy of Focus Features
Comments