Like with his previous feature, COLUMBUS, Director Kogonada has fashioned an evocative tale about communication. Taking the form of a sci-fi film, AFTER YANG concerns a married couple, Jake (Colin Farrell) and Kyra (Jodi Turner-Smith), who have adopted a Chinese girl Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja). In this unspecified future, a family can employ a surrogate android sibling, here named Yang (Justin Min). Yang acts not only as an older brother, but as a tutor who gives Mika a richer understanding of her Chinese heritage. When Yang malfunctions, the parents scramble to repair him, during which time they are able to 'plug in' to his memory chip.
Kogonada (who also adapted the script from an Alexander Weinstein short story) isn't that interested in the hardware that makes up Yang, but, his inner "thoughts" - his very notion of existence (the science fiction elements are handled quite well). What's fascinating here is that this is truly a two-way interaction - the family is as tied emotionally to Yang as the robot is in its role as an adopted family member. Haley Lu Richardson plays Ada, another character who's questioning her own existential being.
AFTER YANG may seem like heavy going, but, Kogonada and the wonderful cast present the tale in a most simple, unaffected manner. Lessons aren't delivered, but experienced. Some of the most sublime moments are as simple as drinking a glass of water. The viewer takes from the movie what they bring to it. Kogonada leaves it up the audience to decide what Yang's very being represents -- and how humans will accept that autonomy.
