Credits: Antigravity Academy/ Maiden voyage

Sean Wang perfectly portrays a young man's transition from childhood to adolescence. Combining humor and sincerity, Dìdi has everything to move audiences.

 Dìdi recounts the summer of Chris Wang, a 13-year-old boy on a quest for identity. Whether learning to skateboard, hitting on girls or simply taking the time to appreciate his mother, the protagonist discovers many facets of his personality.

By inserting several aspects of his own life into the film, the director dares to take a fresh look at the coming-of-age genre. The striking authenticity, Chris's immature little jokes and conflicts, the emotional message conveyed: all testify to the autobiographical nature of the work. 

Despite its similarity to the film Mid90s, Dìdi differs from other films in its genre by tackling the themes of immigration and cultural weight between two different generations. It looks at the typical conflicts within a first-generation immigrant family: high expectations of academic success, the language barrier and cultural differences. Sean Wang uses mother-son dialogues in all kinds of contexts to ratchet up the tension. The end of the film is moving, underlined by the words spoken by Chris's mother: “I'm proud of you”. These are words rarely expressed by immigrant parents. 

While the strength of this cinematographic work lies in its realism, the director easily immerses his audience in a certain nostalgia. The mention of elements of the popular culture of the time, such as flip phones and Myspace, reinforces this feeling. Throughout the film, Chris is confronted with several obstacles typical of the ungrateful age: self-confidence, the desire to belong to a group and awkwardness in early romantic interactions. The expressions and vocabulary used by Chris and his friends also recall the natural desire to push boundaries at this age. These universal experiences invite audiences to recall their own adolescence, enabling them to identify easily with the main character. 

Didi offers a new perspective on the coming-of-age genre, opening the door for other young directors to follow suit.