...Now...I'll start off by saying:
It's clear the reviews from Feb 2021 and Nov 2021--are fake. Well they're certainly nepotistic. It's great to have a support system, but don't put a raving review just because the filmmaker is your personal friend/relative/business partner. I know you guys put effort into this film (I can tell, to be honest) but don't b.s. Your reviews. When people start catching wind of the film and see this, it'll look bad.
Anywho.
I'll minus one star for the blatantly fake reviews. But everything about the film was great. I truly am inspired by the local imagery; they look very similar to the quaint, mountainous suburbs of Japan, with gray yet clear skies, the boldest green foliage and forestry, minimalist yet modern architecture, and vividly colored wardrobes against the muted background. They were genius to have Erin Mei Ling Stuart wear that lively blue peacoat since the film is very gray and quiet.
Another thing, Stuart needs more films. She's phenomenal. Her face is strong and her body is poetic--and her haircut and tattoos are cool. It's so rare to see an Asian American in a film, and one that isn't about martial arts, too. We see Asian foreign nationals with accents (which is fine) but there needs to be more stories told through fiction feature length films about Asians in the Bay Area, LA, etc. I'm sure they have so many stories to tell, even if it's not necessarily about BEING ASIAN. There's a lot of documentaries and short films about it, but where are the feature length films? (I'm not Asian, by the way, just incredibly bored with Hollywood).
Now as far as the plot, it's very stripped down and simple, and I think that's why people rate it poorly. I guess the Asian perspective on gentrification in San Francisco is underappreciated (Asian women DO typically make the highest income in the USA, so a story about one of them being/becoming homeless might be an eyeroller, and the humbly budgeted nature of the film and simplicity of the premise might be a yawn fest too.) But I dug it.
The only issue I have is: I'm not quite sure if the outcome of the film is what they were going for. It starts off with her doing a bootcamp-esque warm up in the woods, and edgy rock music that delivered an empty promise of kick-a** girl power revenge. That the main character was going to be a force to be reckoned with. She KIND OF was. Yet, the film progressed and finished anti-climactically. Not quite sure why she was training in the woods like Rocky. She didn't actually fight anyone lol and her character is rather subdued. She enlists (or twists the arm of) another Asian woman to enact revenge on the wealthy white woman who made her homeless in an everchanging city by literally gentrifying the apartment she was living in with her ailing father. There was a lot of talking, not much action (that's not going to go over well with viewers usually), but I really like the way Erin talks so it was ok. She is clearly a seasoned thespian who can handle the verbosity of a script. She could read the nutrition label on a box of popcorn and it would be great. (I'm not her; I am a genuine viewer who doesn't know any of the people in this film.)
At the end of the day, however, this is a great film. It's clearly unique because if you search it up on Google, for instance, there are no suggested similar films. The algorithm (on my end) draws a blank. So there really needs to be more movies like this, with an Asian-AMERICAN LEAD cast and these beautiful visuals, atmospheric aesthetics, and a great soundtrack from the cool female indie rockers to the relaxing electric nu-jazz that is nostalgic to strolling through a big city park on a Sunday. I'm a New Yorker and I want to explore this little town now, just because of this film, that much is true.
Keep making films about Californian reality, hire Erin Mei Ling Stuart for all of them, and don't lie about your reviews, peeps.
