Director: Kogonada
Starring: Colin Farrell, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, Justin H. Min
Jodie Turner-Smith, Haley Lu Richardson, Clifton Collins Jr, Sarita Choudhury
Year: 2021
After Yang feels more like a short or an episode of Black Mirror than it does a feature-length film, but it’s somehow both too long and also too quick, going further than it needed to perhaps but failing to explore all the doors it opened. AI, clones, adoption, family, future; it’s a lot to take in with only 90 minutes to process, but it’s also probably too much to send our way in that same time frame. Kogonada had Colin Farrell in his perfect element, but the movie meanders away from the sweet spot, and the film suffers slightly as a result.
In the near future, a childless couple adopt a Chinese infant, but they also purchase an android whose job it is to serve as a brother from the same country; to take care of Mika like a Nanny, to teach her the history of her homeland, and to be, above all else, a family member. When Yang abruptly shuts down, his owners take him to multiple places to be fixed, while the family unit struggles to deal with his “death”. Opening his memory, it becomes clear that Yang was more than a robot, other than a human, something different that was beginning to think & feel for himself, with confusing consequences.
After Yang has the same melancholy mood as Her, only this time it’s familial love, not romantic love, although it’s equally heartbreaking and powerful. There *is* a hint of romance, as Yang becomes pulled toward one young woman …and her clone? …but that’s a side story, one of many that we are intrigued by but never get to explore. The film is also similar to Never Let Me Go in its sadness and longing, but that movie (and Her) are far superior experiences. After Yang is a little disjointed, yet beautiful, a touch off-center, but mesmerizing. It’s a bit of a lot of things and a bit of a puzzle; I just wish it had focused on one theme at a time. As it was, Farrell was excellent, the mood & music were perfect, the visuals were captivating …it’s just the plot that was off, almost as if it didn’t know where it was going or where it might end up.
My rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆