Sundance 2024: ‘Didi’ is Yet Another Original Coming-of-Age Classic
by Alex Billington
January 29, 2024
This is one of best discoveries of Sundance 2024. A knock out – loved every second of it. 2024 is a big year for the talented Taiwanese-American filmmaker Sean Wang, who is originally from Fremont, CA. Not only does he have this feature debut movie premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, and it’s getting rave reviews (and it won the Audience Award), he’s also probably going to win an Academy Award in March for his short film Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó about his grannies (it’s also streaming on Disney+ in February). Sundance has a memorably rich tradition of premiering many of the best coming-of-age films of all-time, ranging from 500 Days of Summer to Napoleon Dynamite to Little Miss Sunshine to The Spectacular Now to Clerks to Eighth Grade to Boyhood, and so many others over the years. Sean Wang’s Dìdi (弟弟) instantly joins the ranks as yet another outstanding coming-of-age film making its mark at Sundance. It’s going right to the top of my list of my favorite films of the festival. I have to take this moment to rave about and recommend it.
During the introduction at Sundance, Wang explained that he was inspired by and moved by Stand By Me, and other coming-of-age classics, and wanted to make his own version of these. Except his version would be about a young Asian-American kid growing up in the suburbs in California, and it would be about his mix of friends and his life experiences. Of course, that’s exactly what he made, and this film is particularly distinct in that it is a version of the teenage coming-of-age story that I haven’t really seen before. Even if you know what to expect with this kind of family, mainly intense pressure from his parents to be even better at school, there’s still a tremendous amount of details and storytelling aspects that feel completely fresh. Everything found within this invigorating film is representative of a truly extraordinary young filmmaker breaking into the world of cinema; ready to make his mark, ready tell even more stories that we haven’t ever seen before on screen. Didi is irrefutably a certified hit, and instant favorite, another coming-of-age Sundance premiere that I’ll be talking about all year just like with 500 Days of Summer and all the great films from years prior.
Didi is written and directed and produced by Sean Wang, with Sam A. Davis as his DP and a score composed by Giosuè Greco. The title is a reference to a nickname his mom uses for her 13-year-old son who is growing up in Fremont. His friends call him “Wang Wang”, but he prefers to go by real name Chris. He is the typical shy, immature, goofy, nervous, smart-yet-doesn’t-want-to-show-it 13-year-old boy who’s trying to figure out himself while not making a fool of himself in front of his classmates. He has a small group of friends from school, but they enjoy making fun of him the most, and this bothers him. Chris also has an older sister, and as expected with siblings while at this age, they are always fighting with each other and messing with each other. The focus of Didi is on the life of Chris, as he struggles with all the overwhelming teenager feelings of shame, loneliness, pressure, and being left out. There’s a girl in his class he’s into, but he also doesn’t know how to deal with her, or how to make the right moves. Everything starts to fall apart all at once, though he finds some hope in a group of older skater boys that let him into their crew as their cameraman and buddy.
In addition to truly exceptional performances from the entire cast, there are filmmaking aspects, directorial decisions, and creative touches found within this film that I haven’t noticed before in any other coming-of-age flick. Sean Wang is one of these up-and-coming filmmakers that is about to go on to have an illustrious, exciting career in cinema, and everyone will look back on this feature debut as his big breakout, proof that he’s got an eye for crafting original cinema, bringing out charismatic performances, and telling engrossing stories. He handles every emotional swing, every scene, every shot in this with such confidence it made me giddy watching it all. The lead performance by Izaac Wang is exceptional. The time capsule aspects of the film are spot on (MySpace! AIM chat! I remember these days!) and they’re played for laughs in just the right way. He understands all of the characters and let’s their authenticity lead them down different paths, even if it’s moving away from Chris. It’s as touching as it is entertaining, it’s as heartfelt as it is humorous. And it’s a satisfying crowd-pleaser, as evident by the fact that it won Sundance’s Audience Award – not an easy feat.
Sean Wang’s Didi is a film full of life, full of heart, full of honesty, full of humor. Packed with everything that an unforgettable, iconic coming-of-age film should have, plus much more. Thank you Sundance for this one.
Alex’s Sundance 2024 Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Follow Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing
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