Synopsis:

When a Chinese mother visits her son in Manhattan to celebrate news of his engagement, she’s taken aback to discover that her son is actually planning to marry another man. As she watches the couple prepare to come out to her, she must grapple with her emotions and decide how to react to the news.

Review by Andie Karvelis:

Ahhhhhh, parents. We’ve all got ‘em, amirite? Some of us get along fantastically with our parents, while others don’t. Some of us, including myself, are a little afraid of our parents. Especially the parent who is the main authority figure. Our parents can be judgy and critical because they love us and want what’s best for us but it’s still nerve wracking sometimes. Welcome to Motherland. The story of a Mom traveling overseas to visit her son and meet his new fiancee for the first time. If that isn’t stressful, I don’t know what is. However, that’s just the beginning. Written, Directed and Edited by Lijie Xie with the screenplay by Lijie Xie and Victoria Hirakawa-Castro. They have created a story that is beautiful, relatable and pretty ingenious with the plot twists.

Having a great story is only part of making a great film. You need a great cast and crew. Lijie Xie delivers on this aspect too. The cinematography from Jonathan Zhao is beautiful and the music really elevates the entire film thanks to Oscar Pan. The cast is absolutely amazing. Rika Yu plays Mom and she is sensational, her son Nick is portrayed by Kai Wang. Kai did such a fantastic job getting you to feel everything he was feeling. You can’t help but empathize with his character. Andrew Wong plays William, the fiancee. It’s impossible not to fall in love with William. Andrew is so endearing and he added these brilliant moments of levity during tense scenes. The rapport between Rika, Kai and Andrew just shines on screen and part of that has to do with wonderful directing.

This is one of those films that taps into so many different emotions and leaves you feeling inspired and hopeful.

Project Links

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