Didi

“In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy (Izaac Wang) learns what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom.”

Coming of age films have had to change since they became popular in the 80s. No longer are the young just fraught with anxiety and naivety navigating local school life, they have an entire planet of connected people and social expectations they must navigate in order to find themselves and their place in this ever-connected world we live in.

Didi flawlessly tells the story of navigating youth utilizing the tremendous changes in technology compared to only a few decades prior. While I was quite a bit older than 13 in 2008 when this film took place, I could nonetheless identify with almost all aspects of it, as I went through some of the same pitfalls of youth a decade earlier, just some of the technology was a bit slower, and we weren’t all as obsessed with connectivity as we are now. If you are of the same generation or younger, you will may recognize yourself in some of these sequences, perhaps trying to look up something a crush likes before talking to them about it so it sounds as though you have more in common than you really do, the endless editing of yourself before responding to others, or tailoring your social media accounts to reflect the likes of others. What Didi excels at the most are these aspects, and highlighting the drastic differences in growing up today than ever before. There may be some advantages to having vast knowledge at your fingertips, but the interconnectivity presents new challenges that parents aren’t equipped to navigate and teach their children.

The story is pretty simple, a Taiwanese American boy, Didi, is dealing with typical issues of kids his age, trying to impress friends, girls, and generally trying to find where he best fits in amongst it all. While I can’t identify with the cultural issues he also has to deal with, the family drama is particularly poignant as the relationship between Didi and his mother packs a lot of emotion as well. Didi’s fears and anxieties of no one liking him, including his family, can be a heartbreaking journey as he has to discover his own self-worth within him and not change to fit the expectations of others.

Didi uses interesting techniques in integrating the social media aspects of the story. Using AOL instant messenger on-screen as Didi types, and types pretty badly, is an insightful look at the mindset of youth as he changes things he says in order to give a different impression. The fact that it feels more real, with the mistakes, the editing of himself, blocking people when he gets embarrassed, all feels genuine.

Whether you’re Didi’s age or a little bit older, there will definitely be things you’ll identify with in this story. Full of heart, joy and sorrow, this brief look at growing up in today’s world is sure to be a benchmark for the coming-of-age films of a new generation.

We were given a digital code to review this film, which is available now to rent and to purchase digitally. The physical release is scheduled for 10/29, which includes a Blu-ray version.