Sundance Film Festival 2022: After Yang Is A Stunning Exploration Of Life Through A Robot’s Eyes
A24’s minimalist sci-fi After Yang is an adaptation of Alexander Weinstein’s short story “Saying Goodbye To Yang.” The film, which made its debut at Sundance Film Festival 2022, centers around Jake (Colin Farrell) and Kyra (Jodie Turner-Smith) who purchased a culture-based AI robot, or “techno-sapien,” named Yang (Justin H. Min) to be a “big brother” for their adopted daughter Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja) and help her connect with her Chinese heritage. During an amusing family dance off in the film’s opening credits, Yang malfunctions and ultimately shuts down. What transpires next is a stunning exploration of grief, identity, and memory.
Yang is an important part of the family, so when he can’t be rebooted, it hurts. When Jake first tries to get Yang fixed, he learns that he had a special piece in him that allowed him to capture his own memories through video clips. In grieving this loss, he watches the moments in Yang’s memory files, realizing there’s much more to him that it seemed. Umbrella Academy’s Justin H. Min delivers a subdued but compelling performance as Yang. We see his strong familial bond with Mika, the poignant ponderings on his own Chinese identity, and a hidden history from before he came into the family’s lives. While he might not be a human being, Yang has a past, he contemplates his own existence, he loves, he lived in his own unique way.
The few moments where After Yang falters is in its unexplored hinting of clones and in a few too dark scenes that make it difficult to see what’s going on on screen. But where After Yang shines is in the way it brings something new to the sci-fi genre. Instead of seeing technology as a danger, this film explores our relationship and dependence on it in a sentimental way.
After Yang is the second feature film from director Kogonada. See Pop Culture Planet’s Best of the Fest, below:
