In Yi Yi, a character comments that "movies give us twice what we get from daily life." A Brighter Summer Day fits neatly into that philosophy.

It's an immersive film that lets you experience -- not just watch -- a life that is not your own. You spend four hours as part of a Taiwanese family striving for stability amidst a world of chaos, senseless violence, and adults who never were children. Through Xiao Si'r, his family, and the Little Park Boys, Yang tests the boundaries between love and disgust, between tenderness and violence.

It's breathtaking.

And heartbreaking.

My god what a trilogy

Late Spring really didn't hit me until late in the second act. Then I ran headfirst into a wall of emotions I have yet to fully crack. There's love, of course. Selfishness, but also selflessness. Sadness, grief, the trauma of side-stepping the path you'd rather be treading. A dash of anger and hopelessness. A pinch of optimism.

And woven through it all is the question whether we should challenge the societal norms that tell us which relationships matter and when, and whether choices to stick to or deviate from those norms can and should define us.

Minari, Minari, wonderful wonderful