Sean Wang’s “Dìdi”,” distributed by Focus Features, was finally released on Friday. I watched around 20 films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and “Dìdi” was one of only a handful of films I considered to be above average.
This weekend, “Dìdi” grossed $200k at five locations for a strong per theater average of $40k, one of the top three limited openings of the year. The film will continue its slow platform release next weekend by adding approximately 50 theaters.
I’m not surprised by the praise that’s been coming in for this film —a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and 81 on Metacritic sounds about right. It won’t get released to a wider public until mid-August, but I’d keep an eye out on this one. It’s starting to get some much-deserved Oscar buzz.
This past January, at the Sundance Film Festival, “Dìdi” took home the coveted Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic category and a special Jury prize for Best Ensemble. This was the worthiest title out of this year’s competition, although a brief shout out should be made to “Between the Temples” and “Good One.”
Set in 2008, during the last month of summer, and before high school begins, “Dìdi” tackles an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy who learns what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to navigate the most turbulent time in a boy’s life.
It’s a sweet, real and resonant film — with shades of Bo Burnham’s “Eighth Grade.” If you loved that one, then you’ll be quite taken by “Dìdi.” It’s not a gamechanger by any means, but it’s the kind of discovery that makes Sundance such an essential festival.
While we await its wider expansion, you can watch the trailer which gives us a good glimpse of the sweet nature that this film possesses. There’s unforced truth in the way Wang delivers his mise-en-scene and captures a moment in time that feels both nostalgic and revelatory.