User reviews

The Left-Handed Girl follows a single mother and her two daughters returning to Taipei. The mother struggles with debt after her ex becomes gravely ill; the rebellious elder daughter gets involved with a married man; and the younger one becomes terrified of her "demonic" left hand after a tragic accident. The film captures their intertwined lives, as well as the mother's relationship with her own parents and siblings, revealing both humor and helplessness in the face of traditional Chinese views on family and gender.

During the Q&A, director Shih-Ching Tsou shared her long creative journey with Sean Baker. Working on Baker's low-budget projects meant handling everything from costumes to props to extras, which Tsou described as attending "Sean Baker Film School." The film inherits something essential from Baker's cinema: compassion for its characters.

Whether the mother, or the two daughters, each is portrayed with care and dignity. The film guides us through their shared struggles, buried secrets, and the emotional storm that erupts in the final sequence. That quiet compassion, which defines Baker's best work, shines here as well.

One late-night scene stands out: the two sisters wandering through a Taipei night market. Without spoilers, the older girl says a line that suddenly changes how we see her. As she leads her younger sister through the market's stalls, we glimpse another side of her, a subtle revelation that also quietly foreshadows later developments. She suddenly feels more than just a stereotypical rebellious teen. Perhaps she is moved by her little sister's pure love for their mother, which prompts her sudden change of heart. (And the younger girl, sensing her mother's inner conflict, ends up doing something both touching and amusing.) Though the three of them rarely enjoy what we might call quality time together, their bond proves far stronger than it first appears. They affect and transform one another through love, that very emotion becomes the seed from which each character grows into fullness.

Left Handed Girl (2025) is a pleasant film with a gentle emotional tone and a visually appealing style. It delivers a soft, engaging atmosphere that makes it enjoyable to watch, and it has moments of genuine beauty both in its characters and its cinematography. However, despite its charm, the movie ultimately settles into very standard drama territory.

The story feels too familiar and doesn't take advantage of the themes it introduces. There are several places where the narrative could have gone deeper-whether in exploring the character's internal struggle, the relationships around her, or the broader message the film hints at. Because of this lack of development, many scenes feel lighter than they should, and the emotional impact remains limited.

Overall, Left Handed Girl is a nice, watchable film, but it clearly had the potential to be much stronger with a richer and more ambitious story.

Give that small girl the oscar already her acting is impressive her expressions and all, her alone is the career of this movie she does everything so good kudos to her.

You may think this is just a boring family drama at first but I promise you it's more than that it takes a level of deep connection and secrets.

After the final moment your view for the entire movie will definitely changed.

I think the final 20 minutes of the movie sums up almost everything, Yet we couldn't get to know what happened between her and her ex husband I really wanted to know all the fuss behind that.

This film did it all for me. The acting was amazing. The cinematography was beautiful. Editing was seamless. It was well written and humorous, but also super emotional. It was wonderful in every way. I'm glad I saw this in the theater and I highly recommend it to get the full effect. I was lucky enough to be able to see it for the Film Independent screening at AMC The Grove, and there was a panel afterward with the director, actors and Sean Baker, the editor. The ending was not anything I saw coming. This movie is the reason why I love movies.

When I walked into the modern and comfortable southern Taiwan cinema, I knew nothing about this film until when the film started rolling and I saw Sean Baker's name in it. I have been a huge Baker fan for decades since his 'Take Out'. I've watched and enjoyed every one of his films. I somehow remembered Tsou's name in the credit in every one of Baker's films but it didn't click on me when I first noticed Left-Handed Girl. I was really delighted and enjoyed this wonderful Tsou/Baker co-production about Taiwan's ordinary people's lives and how their compassion for each other intertwined in the typical Tsou/Baker touches. This film reminded me of their earlier 'Prince of Broadway', 'Starlet', 'Tangerine', 'The Florida Project', 'Red Rocket' and lastly but not the least 'Anora'. I wish Left-Handed Girl many successes in the upcoming awards season and I look forward to seeing more of Tsou/Baker co-production in the future. If you like any of their previous films, don't miss out this touching yet often hilarious and wonderful film about contemporary Taiwan.

Story of how women are living in life. A mom, a daughter and a girl, when moved to a new city, they have to find way to survive it. They have their messy past history but here its their future and its even more messier.

From unpaid bills to dragging old relations everything comes in their way. The innocent girl for whom her own hand becomes a devil. All this and much more with super visuals and great story line that sucks you in.

Take Out meets The Florida Project in a Shih-Ching Tsou & Sean Baker collaboration that's full of lively real-life energy and saturated colours. Tsou and Baker co-write, with the former directing and the latter editing, and extract the sweetest (and cutest) performance from Nina Ye, playing a young kid named I-Jing who's told (by her orthodox grandpa) that using the left hand leads to the devil's work. Her mom Shu-Fen (an excellent Janel Tsai) runs a noodle stand in the bustling Taipei night market, while her sister I-Ann (Shih-Yuan Ma) is an angsty teenager who works as a 'betel nut beauty.' Another key character here is Johnny (Brando Huang), a hawker whose shop is adjacent to the noodle shop, and gradually grows to be a spirited presence in the womens' lives.

Films shot on the iPhone (Boyle's 28 Years Later, Soderbergh's Unsane, Baker's own Tangerine, and recently Neil Burger's Inheritance) have a unique aesthetic to them. A big chunk of the film revolves around I-Jing's little antics with the camera zooming in on her adorably expressive face, and coupled with Taipei's beautifully lived-in settings, the film is a sight to behold, even on smaller screens. The candid beauty of East Asian (and South East Asian, for that matter) countries is just absorbing as hell. The more you've travelled to these places, the more you can relate.

Drama keeps brewing in the household between the three ladies, with money, integrity, and even the family tree being called into question. All three get well-etched characters and arcs. The climactic culmination even brings an unexpected reveal, but life keeps moving. The writing treats ACCEPTANCE as a true virtue, and sometimes in life, that's exactly how it is. The scene where I-Jing and I-Ann go back together to return I-Jing's stolen goods is SO SWEET.. might be my favourite scene in a film all year.

For an indie project, entirely shot on iPhones, it surprisingly tackles a myriad of socially relevant topics, from age-old superstitions to entrenched patriarchal practices.

What I particularly like is how it gives each of the main characters their moments to shine, highlighting their individual struggles without prioritizing one over the others.

It beautifully illustrates that everyone has their own challenges, and we all cope in different ways; some could handle things quietly, while others need to let it all out.

It's not overly heavy on the emotions, but the makers' intentions come across clearly. Plus, the "iPhone" footage adds a unique touch of realism to the whole storytelling experience.

Oh, and watch out for the twist at the end; I was flabbergasted.

AMAZING movie! I felt fully immersed in the lives of the main characters, showing how family members are navigating a crazy and chaotic world that is literally half a world away from mine in Taipei, but has so many resonances.

It was funny, moving and dramatic, and all the acting was amazing, but that of the 5 year old main character was simply astonishing. Must watch movie!!

Left-Handed Girl was so visually comforting for me. I love the colours, the little pockets of China it showed, and having a kid as the POV just hits different. Some scenes had that indie-film vibe, but there were moments where the framing felt more like it was shot on a phone than an actual film. Still, the scenes - especially the kid's - were so good. The girl absolutely carried; she was the best part of the whole movie.

The film was nice overall. I liked how it tried to subtly tackle family-planning issues, Chinese family dynamics, poverty, teenage pregnancy, and that whole innocence arc - like when the kid tried to steal and you could see the innocence hit her with poverty and problems around her

what I loved most was the sudden cuts and the smooth sound transitions - the background/ambient sounds were so good.

I just wish it wasn't too laidback. Like, give me a bit more substance in the story or the dialogue. I get that it's aiming for an indie vibe, but it felt a little imbalanced considering how good the visuals were.

"Left-Handed Girl" is one of the most moving and visually striking Taiwanese films in recent years. Director Shih-Ching Tsou weaves intimate childhood memories with powerful social themes, creating a story that feels both raw and beautifully poetic. The film's portrayal of three generations of women-each navigating superstition, patriarchy, and the longing to be seen-hits with emotional honesty. The performances, especially from the young cast, are natural and deeply affecting. Vivid night-market scenes, layered storytelling, and confident directing make this a standout work that lingers long after the credits roll. A bold, heartfelt debut that deserves all its acclaim.

Shot entirely with an iPhone, 'Left-Handed Girl (2025)' marks Shih-Ching Tsou's solo feature directorial debut after co-directing 'Take Out (2004)' with Sean Baker and producing several of the latter's other films. This slice-of-life drama feels incredibly personal, incorporating elements of its director's life to add texture and tangibility to the already incredibly palpable world it creates. With its handheld shooting style and focus on intimate everyday occurrences, the flick almost feels like a documentary at times. Splitting its focus between the child's-eye view of its youngest character and the more hardened perspectives of the older two members of its central trifecta, the narrative feels at once vaguely aimless and somehow wholly focused on immersing us in the lives of its characters. It's a naturalistic experience that's subtly moving - and, even, heartwarming - despite its generally harsher atmosphere, contextualising its story within a society that minimises women at every turn without becoming wholly about this aspect. Although the story feels as though it tries to cram in a little too much during its finale, dropping some pretty big bombs without sticking around to examine their aftermath enough to make them feel truly impactful. Still, even as its pacing ebbs and flows and it usually refuses to bend to genre convention (to both detriment and benefit), it's a compelling and honest feature that keeps you engaged for its duration. You're never quite sure where it's going to go, but it's one of those movies that's definitely about the journey rather than the destination so it ultimately doesn't really matter exactly where it ends up. It's an entertainingly down-to-earth effort.

This movie is unbelievably terrible. It makes no sense at all - it's basically like a vlog, filming the same family every day. And everyone in it acts like an idiot. As a Taiwanese person, this is not the Taiwan I know. It actually feels more like the lifestyle and behavior of people in Hong Kong or China.

A 5-year-old girl, her university-aged sister, and their single mother move back from the countryside to Taipei, where the mother opens a noodle stall in a night market.

The youngest goes to school, is somewhat taken care of by the 2 family members, at time tries to help, but also at times is left to amuse herself. She wants a dog, but ends up inheriting her father's meerkat. Her left-handedness causes trouble with her grandfather, who calls the left hand "the devil's hand", something that leads to unintended results.

The older girl goes to work at an unrelated shop, and when she happens upon an old schoolmate, they wonder why she is not in university, given her previous grades, and why she suddenly left school without goodbyes.

The mother's finances are shaky, repeatedly being late with her shop's rent. Grandma is not too supportive, as (culturally) a married daughter is the responsibility of her husband's family. The owner / operator of the stall next to hers (who sells trinkets) takes a shine to her, but she refuses his help, preferring to pawn her jewelry to raise money.

Everything comes to a head at grandma's 60th birthday celebration, where various family secrets are revealed. I do wonder why they all have to be revealed at that time.

The actor playing the 5-year-old is very good, given that she has to play a wide range of emotions. The bustling shops of the market are an eye-opener, and it seems that motor scooters are a major form of transport. This becomes a fascinating glimpse of life in Taipei for ordinary people.

Following around the streets of Taipei, Left Handed Girl follows a mother and her 2 daughters who just newly moved to the city.

Technically, the movie is well directed, letting the audience view through the streets of Taipei through the character's POV. A vlog style direction is handled well by the newcomer Shih Ching Tsou through iPhone.

While the narrative is shaky at times, the characters are well written and shows their individual struggle to make through every day. Three generations of women working to support their families reveal archaic beliefs about gender and superstitions about left-handedness.

The biggest highlight of the movie was Nina Ye playing a 5 year old kid, seeing her family struggle through various situations and her own dilemma of being left-handed. There was pure innocence in her performance that really made me stick to the movie till the end.

Narratively, the focus was not constant. The pacing was uneven, the characters especially Shih-Hua-Ma could have been written better.

My Rating : 3.5/5.

There's lots of things going on in this movie, and the plot twist at the end was something I figured out within the first 20 minutes or so. But I think that may have been part of the reason why I liked it so much. What I mean by that is that if you watch this for a second time, you now know the twist, so you watch it from a different perspective, but you also already know what will happen. I knew the twist, but I didn't know how the story was going to evolve, so that was a good thing.

It seems everyone is raving about the little girl's performance, and she is very good, but this type of "little girl" performance I've seen in so many films that it doesn't mean all that much to me. For me, the older sister was the most interesting character to watch, although the performances by all are uniformly very good.

As "Left-Handed Girl" (2025 release from Taiwan; 109 min) opens, we are introduced to a woman and her two daughters, including a 5 yo who is left-handed. They are all returning to Taipei. The mom is struggling to make ends meet. The oldest daughter is finding her own way. And the 5 yo ends up getting shifted between t=her mom and sister's place and the grandparents on her mom's side... At this point we are 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is directed and co-written by Taiwanese-American Shih-Ching Tsou. I admit knowing nothing about her. More notably, the movie is edited, co-written and co-produced by Sean Baker ("The Florida Project"). Together, they bring a slice of the daily life in Taipei. More correctly, it is a slice of the nightly life in Taipei, as much of the movie plays out at night. It's like getting a tip of Taipei's veil lifted. As for the actual story line, there really isn't much of one. Life is playing out in all of its ordinary-ness. The no-name cast is terrific, in particular the two daughters.

"Left-Handed Girl" premiered at this year's Cannes film festival to immediate acclaim, causing a bidding war for the film's distribution rights, eventually won by Netflix. After a very brief US theatrical release last month, the movie is now streaming in Netflix, where I saw it last night. The movie is currently rated 99% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. If you are in the mood to fins out what the day-to-day life is like in Taipei, I'd reqadily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

The Left-Handed Girl is a film with many layers. It explores multiple themes without ever forcing them or feeling the need to explain everything in a didactic way. The film is not concerned with telling the audience who is right or wrong it is simply there to tell a story. Everything is presented with great naturalness, allowing the viewer to gradually understand and absorb it.

What truly stands out is the lightness with which the story is told. Everything feels real, human, and tangible, as if we are simply watching life unfold. There is no exaggeration only sensitivity and authenticity.

The performances are impeccable, carrying the emotional weight of the film with honesty and restraint. The soundtrack is subtle and well-balanced, and the cinematography is precise, perfectly complementing the intimate tone of the narrative.

This is a film that doesn't shout to be understood, but gently invites the viewer to feel.

At first I thought this movie was whatever, I mean watchable and enjoyable and kind of touching here and there but not as great as people make it out to be but the latter half really changed my mind with where it went. Lots of family drama and female generational trauma and all these women making very bad choices about men, which makes perfect sense cause we rarely learn from our moms' mistakes. But it is very upsetting and frustrating watching women sabotage themselves like that.

Also not a fan of airing your dirty laundry in public like that and I have never seen it in reality on this scale so it's such a movie thing to do it this way.

What can I say I'm always a sucker for a family drama, especially a female-oriented one and add some patriarchy into the mix and I'm throwing hands at the injustice of the world.

This movie revolves around a noodle stand located within a Taipei night market. The noodle stand is run by a single mom who's always depressed and tired. Her daughter is always mad and swears alot. We don't know why she's so cranky until the ENDof the movie. It's the LITTLE GIRL who really makes this movie come alive, without her this would have been a very BORING and irritating watch. THREE stars for the little girl!

The film is one of those Asian slice-of-life movies that are very popular in the region. The events revolve around the daily life of a family trying to survive amid the difficulties imposed by lack of money and intra- and extra-family relationships, all seen through the presence and perspective of the youngest daughter.

The lived environment, brilliant and immersive, takes you to the night markets of Taipei, while following the family drama through a child's eyes.

The child's discovery of life is paired with the settings to create a sense of nostalgia for experiences the viewer has never had, producing interesting emotional tones as the story unfolds.

The film, however, does not have the impact of others in the same genre, being relatively timid in its commitment to the slice-of-life style, perhaps out of concern for alienating the international audience, who will watch the film on Netflix.

A personal video, filmed with a cellphone camera, traveling through the memories of Taipei. Absolutely alive.

Left Handed Girl is a bitter portrait of how a child can become the most honest mirror of a fractured family. The movie moves quietly, as if inviting us to peek into the small spaces that are usually hidden. There are many conflicts here: an older sister pregnant out of wedlock, parents exhausted both physically and financially, and an innocent child bearing the entire burden, to the point where she believes that her left hand might be able to fix the situation. An absurd idea, yet deeply painful. And we end up seeing it as realistic-how children often become the silent victims of adult problems.

This movie teaches that trauma does not always stem from physical violence, but can also arise from absence. The child grows up amidst silent gaps, an older sister who is not right, parents busy saving the family's economy, and an even busier environment.

In a real social context, this phenomenon often occurs. Many children experience parentification, becoming mature before their time because they are forced to read situations that even adults do not understand.

This movie does not offer a beautiful resolution, but rather shows how losing direction at a young age can become the starting point for psychological wounds. The child grows up with a fractured self-concept, internalizing the family's faults as their own, seeing their body not as a home but as a bargaining tool for others' peace of mind. This phenomenon often occurs with children in real cases who take extreme steps, excessive initiatives, self-sacrifice, or impulsive decisions. All simply because they have not yet been able to distinguish between what responsibilities are theirs and what are not.

This movie reminds us that a child should never have to seek justification for their existence; they should not feel the need to "diminish" themselves to calm the family storm. In real life as well as in film, such a burden is a sign that the adult world has failed to maintain the safe space that should be every child's right.

However, the film also leaves a quiet possibility that all of this can slowly be changed. Not through the child's sacrifice, but through the presence of a safe, supportive environment that truly wants to listen.

I've seen virtually all of 2025's major studio films, including all those being considered for industry awards, and -- except for just three ("Weapons," "Companion," and "Warfare") -- they all were disappointing: bloated, boring, unpleasant, fakey, politically agenda-driven, or all of the above. So this unassuming low-budget film -- which until today I'd never even heard of -- makes for a refreshing contrast.

Granted, part of its charm is that it offers a glimpse of life in Taiwan. I've never before seen a film set there, and that relatively unusual setting is all the more fascinating because it currently lies under a threatening cloud that might someday wipe away the very world depicted in the film.

But I also appreciated the film's lively pace, its quick no-nonsense editing, and the fact that its lead actresses are pretty adorable.