Left-Handed Girl
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Released 2025. Director: Shih-Ching Tsou
I HAD NO IDEA UNTIL I SAW HIS NAME in the opening credits that Sean Baker was so heavily involved in Left-Handed Girl, a Taiwanese movie set in Taipei and spoken in Mandarin. Baker, who won a swag of Oscars not two years ago for Anora, not only co-wrote the script but also served as editor and co-producer.
Turns out the movie's director and co-writer Shih-Ching Tsou has collaborated with Baker ever since they met at film school. Tsou was also a producer of Baker's Tangerine, The Florida Project and Red Rocket. The pair clearly have a similar outlook on the kind of themes they address in their movies.
Left-Handed Girl is a slice of metro Taipei examining prejudice, economic despondency, lack of opportunities, disenfranchisement and innocence, seen through the eyes of women on the margins subjugated by patriarchy. All hallmarks of Baker's movies.
The story revolves around a mother and her two daughters. Having left her no-good husband, Shu-Fen brings 20-year-old I-Ann and 5-year-old I-Jing to start a new life in the city. They rent a cramped apartment and sell noodles at a night market. Shu-Fen keeps a lot to herself and just wants to make ends meet. The always angry and rebellious I-Ann sells betel nuts to lascivious customers who leer at young women in hot pants. I-Jing is too young to understand life's complications, a joyous, innocent little girl who's also left-handed, a source of agitation to her superstitious grandfather who believes in nonsense about “devil's hand”. Grandma, goaded by greed, dabbles in trafficking illegal migrants into America.
When Shu-Fen's husband falls ill and dies, she foots the funeral costs, rendering her penniless and unable to pay rent on her noodle stall. The landlord keeps threatening Shu-Fen but her mother and sisters refuse to help and I-Ann is furious. The only person who sympathises is Johnny, a fellow night market hawker who has feelings for the single mother; but Shu-Fen declines to take his money. Without much supervision or guidance, I-Jing acquires the thrill of kleptomania pinching small items because the adults are too busy or distracted to notice.
Left-Handed Girl brims with energy and vibrancy. Like Tangerine, it was also shot on iPhone with a sense of kineticism and immediacy. The performances are vivid and committed, with the actors delivering the emotional range from comical chagrin to roiling anger as the drama unfolds in familiar as well as unexpected ways. Janel Tsai as the mother and Shin-Yuan Ma as the elder daughter dictate the movie's emotional register but young Nina Ye steals every moment with the dazzle of a natural born child star.
Beneath the seamless blend of drama and laughter (often from a child's naive take on the world), the struggle and failure of society to protect the vulnerable feels real and immediate. Social-economic ills in the form of entrenched prejudice, systemic exploitation and gender hierarchy are tackled in an entertaining manner but no less provocative and accusatory. When I-Jing holds a meat cleaver over her offending left-hand, first you're startled, then you might laugh, but you don't know yet if the misguided child is going to hurt herself.
One bombshell revelation near the end is a family secret that the filmmakers have so carefully hidden in plain sight. The shocking details speak of victimisation and how women often choose to sacrifice in silence to avoid stigma and embarrassment, but in doing so freeing the victimiser from any accountability.
A scene which left a strong impression on me is a moment between the two girls. When I-Ann discovers her little sister has been stealing, I expected the sullen big sister to be outraged, ready to mete out a cruel punishment. Instead, she takes the opportunity to not only teach a child about right and wrong but restore goodwill and faith in humanity through a simple act.
Each of the three principal characters has her own story to tell with a different approach to life. For the mother, it's about responsibility and survival. For the defiant daughter it's about attacking life with blunt force, while the five-year-old tries to make sense of the contradictions and upsetting adult behaviour around her. Together, they tell a story about truth, honesty and fighting to keep their family intact despite feuds and flaws.
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Yeah, I didn't realize this was produced by Sean Baker until after I saw it, that's cool that he's consistently working behind the scenes. I like this one way better than Anora ;) That bombshell revelation at the end blew me away, but come to think of it, there seem to be some hints about it, but very subtle!