wandercreature

I love the clever and exciting ways the DANIELs play with aspect ratio as a means of establishing geography.

I love that the break between universes is illustrated so thoroughly that subtitles are affected via broken glass.

I love that it's pretty clear that none of what happens is truly random. The madness of it all is astonishingly controlled.

I love that black circles are a constant throughout.

I LOVE that not only do they indulge in a number of shameless Indiana Jones callbacks, but that they give Ke Huy Quan enough space to create one of the all-time great movie comeback stories.

I love how Stephanie Hsu creates a portrait of today's youth as something wholly authentic to the current moment. No, seriously it's incredible how unfiltered and just plain real it is in spite of all the crazy.

I love that Evelyn Wang's journey takes three notable turns culminating in one beautiful, necessary series of emotional and thematic choices with a powerful reminder of the importance of now, and how this should always break beyond traditions and expectations.

I love that the whole damned thing is composed and edited within a millimeter of its life. The whole thing is relentless, even when there is a needed catchup in the final third.

I love that they were so willing to recreate the Kar Wai aesthetic with such loving detail.

Most importantly, I love that no other film exploring alternate universes will be this willing to use it for such an intimate, and again of the moment story. What's been accomplished here cannot be overestimated. This thing simply should not exist!

And I love that Yeoh has finally been given a role that plays to the best of strengths many of us have been aware of for decades. It is a spectacular, moving exclamation point for such an icon.

So yeah. I love it. Back to your regularly scheduled feed.

*don't tell me Hong wasn't channeling one of his most memorable villain turns come the midpoint.