If you follow me on Twitter you will probably know that when I watched Kogonada‘s After Yang at Sundance and it has haunted me ever since. I cannot stop thinking about it — it’s almost like that time in Parks and Recreation when Tom became obsessed with dissecting a piece of art.
…but that is neither here nor there.
Director Kogonada brings us this stunningly restrained sci-fi story that hones in on grief and loss…but with an unbelievable amount of soul.
In After Yang, a young girl’s (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja) beloved companion — an android named Yang (a career-bolstering performance for Justin H. Min) — malfunctions. Her father Jake (Colin Farrell) searches for a way to repair him. In the process, Jake discovers the life that has been passing in front of him, reconnecting with his wife (Jodie Turner-Smith) and daughter across a distance he didn’t know was there.
After Yang opens in theaters and debuts on Showtime March 4.
The film also stars Haley Lu Richardson who starred opposite John Cho in Kogonada’s feature directorial debut Columbus.
After Yang was co-written by Kogonada and Alexander Weinstein, who write the short story on which it was based.
