I WeirDO

Went to the cinema and had high hopes going into the first 30 minutes. I was amazed and mesmerized by the cinematography and the fact that this was shot entirely on an iPhone but my God! What happened to the 2nd half of the film? I found myself extremely frustrated and I found myself asking the filmmakers: WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THE FILM? many times. Finally, I realized that fancy gadgetry and rousing cinematography are not enough to save a below average story.

It was a real treat to see this movie that's I believe is a step forward for Taiwanese experimental cinema. This film certainly balances warm hearted rom-com with heartbreaking melodrama, all in the package of a quirky film about the love and relationship of two OCD patients. The filmmaker does a great job with his impressive camera work, physical direction and set design that is just short of Wes Anderson's own signature style. This is a style that I rarely see in Taiwanese cinema and any attempts at innovation should be applauded, I really enjoyed the first section of this film but it makes a drastic final shift at the midway point of the film, while it does not divulge into a full on soap opera I think it resorts to too much of the tropes of a relationship gone bad and loses track at around this point in the film, the twist at the end also leaves a lot to be improved upon. This turn of events is problematic not just in the way in which it turns a very conceptually fascinating romance into the cliche but also in its poor timing that challenges the films pacing. I would make the comparison to that of last years breakout star, Korea's Parasite, a film that similarly implores a quirky tone that standalone makes a fascinating story; however in this case the point in which the film is supposed to have a shift of tone is executed poorly, resulting in disappointment. However, for what this film brings to the table and the core message about relationship I'm in no way putting this film down, it has potential, he beautiful form but unfortunately is just shy of making the shot.

Both the leads managed to carry the entire film on their own, while being whimsical and charismatic at the same time. The film presents a rather serious mental issue (OCD) in a fun and entertaining method initially, and gives the audience a thought-provoking question at the end.

While I certainly have doubts over several factual aspects of the film, they definitely did a great job in bringing a rather under-represented issue to light!

What makes I WeirDO a very good film is not the fact that it was shot on iPhones but virtually everything else about the film. It's not the usual social critique/tragedy about people with disorders, but a very balanced film between light tone and fun, and gravitas. It could sound typical to say, but this film actually makes you laugh, cry and think. Yes, it is not a super deep insight film, but it is indeed fresh, and that is not because of the tech it used, but because of its storytelling tecniques and wholesome portaits. I sure hope this film gets a wider release soon.

This tedious, self-aggrandising, zero-budget schlock may possibly have yielded 3 stars out of 10 from me. It gets pushed back to 1 because the core message is unacceptable. Reducing a chronic psychological condition to a fad that can simply "go away" one day is dangerous misinformation. (Indeed, the two main characters both seem to "lose" the disorder as the narrative drags on.)

Billed as a comedy, IWeirDO lacks much of the humanity that would make it so. The second half is where it particularly misses the mark, devolving into poorly-acted melodrama, before Chen Ching "becomes" Chen Po-ching in a hazy, protracted yet unexplained dream-like sequence rehashing their past.