With a title like How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, you’d probably expect this to be a dark comedy or a drama with enough gallows humor to laugh before you lightly dab your tears by the end. However, I had heard the stories about this film going into this. Weepy out-of-theater TikToks. Ushers handing out tissues. Even the person introducing my screening warned us “If you don’t have a tissue, you’re gonna have an issue.” Sure enough, what starts out seemingly innocent becomes an emotional sledgehammer that’ll have more than a few viewers turning on the waterworks. It’s worth it though, because this is one of the best movies of the year so far. After topping the Thai box office and breaking records in Southeast Asia, I was one of the first Americans to see this film for myself, and now I want to spread the word.

M, a slacker from a dysfunctional family, believes he’s just one gaming livestream away from never having to work a day in his life (despite his viewership saying otherwise). One night, his mother drops some devastating news to him: his grandmother has Stage 4 cancer and likely only has a year left. When his grandfather dies soon after, he decides to become his grandma’s caregiver. Not because he’s suddenly realized the gravity of the situation, mind you, but because his cousin was the caregiver for his grandpa and she inherited his house. All he has to do is win his grandma’s favor over the rest of his family and he’ll be set for the foreseeable future. Of course, that ends up being far more work than he imagined…

While Putthipong “Billkin” Assaratanakul is an established star in Thailand and does a great job as M, the real breakout star is Usha Seamkhum as the grandmother. Tough yet caring, in opposition to M’s laziness and apathy, the two play off each other extremely well. This made it especially shocking when I learned that not only was she not a professional actor, but actually pulled off the most intense moments in the film often in one take (though everything else apparently required up to 20). Even with the subject matter, this is still a very funny film, and probably the hardest I’ve laughed at a movie in a while.

However, while the laughs are plentiful, the drama is absolutely devastating. I’ve seen a lot of movies like this that tackle this subject with a light touch that’s funny and sad. This is not one of those movies. What everybody said about this film was true. As much as you’ll be laughing at it, you’ll be crying just as hard. It’s extremely impressive that this was a first-time filmmaking effort for director Pat Boonnitipat (after a career in television), because it feels so raw and real. While it certainly hits some of the standard notes for a story like this, though extremely well, what shocked me was how many parts of the story I didn’t expect. For example, a conversation between the grandmother and her brother ends up being an absolute gut-punch that made me look at her, and the story, in a whole new light.

As someone who’s had similar, if not worse experiences with their own grandparents, the theme of how we treat our elders in their final moments really resonated with me hard. I typically wait longer to say things like this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a major contender in the Oscars this year, as the film’s quality and publicity make it a likely choice for Thailand’s submission for Best International Feature Film. As of this writing, the film does not have US distribution yet, so I want to spread the word as much as possible. It also won the audience award at the festival, so that should help raise its profile here even more. With strong character development, incredible performances, laugh-out-loud dialogue and drama that’s heartwrenching but nevertheless engaging, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies deserves being named the top film of the New York Asian Film Festival 2024, and I hope you all get to see it soon.

Sean Wang’s first feature, Dìdi, not only won two awards at Sundance including the audience award, but also premiered right when he was nominated for an Oscar for his documentary short Nai Nai & Wài Pó. As I said at the time, while he didn’t win, he was still one of the biggest contenders for his short, a hilarious and heartfelt look at facing old age with dignity. For a feature debut, that’s certainly the kind of publicity money can’t buy, and thankfully, it doesn’t disappoint. A brutally frank yet compelling look at identity and the horrors of teenage life, Dìdi is a top-notch example of a coming of age story.

In 2008, 13-year-old Tawainese-American Chris Wang is referred to by his mother and grandmother as Dìdi (“little brother” in Chinese), and “Wang Wang” by his circle of friends. His older sister is finally going off to college, which means he won’t be fighting with her anymore. It’s the summer before high school begins and Chris is doing what kids his age do: making YouTube videos where people’s mailboxes get blown up, hanging out with friends, and trying to get the attention of the girl he has a crush on. However, it isn’t long before his social life begins hitting a few snags, and Chris desperately tries to find a way to fit in, learning more than a few life lessons in the process.

Dìdi is, for the most part, a standard coming of age story, but it’s a rough one. I remember my screenwriting professor once called Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade a horror film for its unflinching look at the modern experience of growing up in middle school, and that kind of movie is definitely an inspiration here. Sean doesn’t tone down the edgy cringe of mid-2000s youth in the slightest, and while those who can relate may be laughing, it’ll likely be through closed eyes. Yet while a lot of it’s played for laughs, it’s when it’s not that the film really becomes effective. There’s some devastating moments in this movie that really capture the feeling of adolescent alienation.

That said, what really elevates this movie above others like it is the film’s commentary on identity. Despite his efforts to fit in, Chris gets constant reminders of a sense of otherness, some playful, some definitely less so. Chris’ family life is also given a sense of depth, as his mother, an artist struggling to achieve recognition, feels pressured by the achievements of her friends’ kids, as well her own mother (who is Sean Wang’s actual grandmother, as seen in Nai Nai & Wài Pó). Characters that feel like they’re archetypes eventually change as the story goes on. It’s a movie that uses tropes while surpassing them, in a way that makes it feel fresh.

The movie is set in 2008, but doesn’t indulge in it. It’s not a nostalgia piece, but one that tells it like it was Sure, there are references to shock sites from the era and plenty of MySpace pages, but it feels natural. A lot of the story is told through the characters’ screens: YouTube videos, AOL messenger chats, and social media, and it’s utilized in a way that makes it feel part of the story as opposed to just watching someone’s monitor (more Searching than Unfriended).

Sean Wang isn’t interested in sugarcoating anything, and without giving anything away, I respected the film’s ending. Being a teenager can be hell, and Dìdi combines that knowledge with a story of the immigrant experience that puts it above a lot of coming-of-age movies. It’s a film that feels personal yet accessible. Just be prepared to cringe. A lot.