No No Girl

"The No No Girl" is a beautifully directed movie that explores the complexities of family relationships and the impact of buried secrets on family identity and stability. The film is centered around a fourth-gen Nisei Hasegawa family, and the story begins with the discovery of love letters written by the just-deceased grandmother. The family decides to bury a "treasure chest" of family heirlooms to spare them from confiscation or destruction. The protagonist Sue Hasegawa, a millennial woman, launches a search into her family history and uncovers long-buried family secrets that threaten to topple her family's stability and identity.

What makes "The No No Girl" so special is the way it portrays a Japanese American family, which is different from other Asian American families. The Hasegawas are third and fourth-generation Japanese Americans living in Southern California, and their family history is deeply connected to the generational aftereffects of Executive Order 9066, which sent many Japanese Americans to concentration camps during World War II. The film explores how this history affects the family's sense of identity and belonging, and how it impacts their relationships with each other.

The film's director, Paul Daisuke Goodman, weaves together many characters and elements with great skill, balancing heavy themes such as property theft with moments of light-hearted comedy. The performances of the actors are outstanding, and the characters are well-developed and believable. The film also beautifully captures the complexity of family relationships, showing how secrets and buried emotions can have far-reaching consequences.

In conclusion, "The No No Girl" is a must-watch film that beautifully explores the complexities of family relationships and the impact of buried secrets on family identity and stability. The film's portrayal of a Japanese American family is unique and adds an important perspective to the portrayal of Asian American families in popular culture. The film is expertly directed, and the performances are outstanding. I highly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys thought-provoking cinema.

"No No Girl" by Paul Goodman is a quietly powerful film that left a lasting impression on me. Told through the eyes of a young Japanese American woman uncovering her family's hidden past, the film offers a nuanced exploration of intergenerational trauma, cultural silence, and the emotional residue of the WWII internment camps. What struck me most was how restrained and intimate the storytelling felt-there's a deep respect for the characters and their inner lives, especially as they wrestle with what has been lost or buried over time. Instead of leaning on heavy exposition, Goodman uses subtle gestures, long silences, and emotionally charged moments to reveal how historical injustice continues to ripple through generations. I found myself reflecting not just on the legacy of the camps, but on how many families-mine included-hold on to pain they can't always name. The film doesn't offer easy closure, and that's what makes it feel real. It's a meditative, beautifully composed reminder of how personal and collective memory shape who we are, even when the past remains unspoken.

A thoughtful and captivating story surrounding second world war Japanese internment and the legacy down through subsequent generations. This was an indie film that certainly kept my attention and leaving me wanting to find out what the 'buried mystery' was, what the letters contained and what action the family would take. It was a well written story, the cinematography was visually pleasing and thoughtfully setup and the pacing done well. I did find the b-story about the rock girl singer a bit different from the main Asian cast plot but perhaps that accentuates the cultural opposites in the story background. Over all this was a satisfying film to watch and generally higher quality than the average indie drama film.

Goodman masterfully captures the ripple effects of one of America's darkest atrocities through a riveting story about family, loss, and healing. Spanning three generations of an American-Japanese family, the film alternates between present day and past following what starts as one girl's curiosity about her grandmother's life and what turns into a quest to uncover secrets almost a century-old that stand to threaten the very fabric of a family born out of an era of discrimination, interment, and shame. A film as worthy as the story it brings to life. Sensational cast and chemistry. A must see..

I very much enjoyed director Paul Daisuke Goldman's new thought provoking family drama "The No No Girl", which examines the impact of long ago family secrets and how they can impact their stability of their children even several generals later. The film is centered around a fourth-generation Hasegawa family, and the discovery of love letters written by the just-deceased grandmother from 80 years ago, when Japanese American were forced to leave their homes and relocate to Internment Japanese Camps under the Executive order 9066. The family decides to bury a "treasure chest" of family heirlooms. The grandchildren and great grandchildren who discovered these letters contemplates launching a search into their family history and uncovers long-buried family secrets.

Director Paul Daisuke Goldman deftly handles the complexity and tension coming from some of the family wanting to know what these details are no matter what versus keeping the status quo of the family identity by not delving into these secrets and details. During wartime incarceration during World War II, these Japanese American families were not treated as citizens who could have a freedom of choice to join the war effort or not. The Broadway show 'Allegiance' delves into these issues by showing Japanese American families experiencing the camps. This film shows the aftermath of what happens when the issue of racial profiling taken to the extreme, and even generations later, its impact on the family. Given the currently state in America and what is happening to the Latino immigrant community, ICE and racial profiling, this movie is indeed timely. With a capable, strong ensemble cast, "No No Girl" is notable in its restrained and intimate storytelling. It's a reflective and gentle reminder of how our family history shape who we are. If you are looking for a contemporary family drama which is both thoughtful and inspiring, I recommend giving "No No Girl" a look.