Left-Handed Girl (2025)

User Review

• 

  Barneyonmovies

  7 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: Shih-Ching Tsou and Sean Baker's 'Left-Handed Girl,' follows a single Mum and her two girls through their daily life in Taipei to eventually realise the effects of family shame.
  
  It opens with the central trio moving to the city and opening a noodle bar, but Mum Xiao-Hong (Blaire Chang) soon struggles to make their rent. She makes visits to her mother and sister to ask for money but is shunned and judged for not being successful like her brother. To make matters worse, they disapprove of her daughter Shu-Fen (Janel Tsai) who works at a Betel Nut stand, and discipline young I-Jing (Nina Ye) for being left-handed. This constant uphill battle not to be cast out financially and as family members leads them to desperation, and eventually we even learn it lead them to keep serious secrets.
  
  This is a tough watch, but it feels very real because it's delivered in a very Sean Baker style with its natural performances and chaotic on-the-ground style cinematography.
  
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: A lot of the film is spent doing that very Sean Baker thing of just watching characters live out their lives, which can be appealing, but equally gets quite repetitive. Plus, the score is surprisingly bad.
  
  VERDICT: 'Left Handed Girl,' is a charming yet grounded character study that brilliantly realises the effects of family shame.

  Like?

  0 member like this review.