Left Handed Girl
Zuopiezi nuhai

The solo directorial debut of Shih-Ching Tsou, Sean Baker's longtime partner, producer, costume designer, and donut shop proprietor, is a vibrant story of a family living on the margins. Though it takes place in Taipei rather than Orlando, LA, NYC, or Texas City, the film feels very much part of the Baker/Tsou cinematic universe. Janel Tsai plays Shu-Fen, a struggling mother who moves to Taipei with her two daughters to open a noodle stand at a night market. The older daughter, teenage I-Ann (Shih-Yua Ma), quickly falls in with the shady operator of a stand a few stalls down, while the younger daughter, five-year-old I-Jing (Nina Ye), learns to navigate this confusing adult world.

I-Jing is the titular left-handed girl. Her grandfather teaches her that the left hand is the Devil's hand and that she must train her non-dominant side so that she can be like all the normal people. The old superstition apparently lives on in Taiwanese culture, but indoctrinating the girl into this belief about herself has a few unforeseen consequences. The film unfolds from the child 's-eye perspective of this eponymous protagonist. Hr family histories are complicated beyond what a little kid can comprehend. As with many of this team's other movies, multiple characters and narrative threads all converge in a grand climax that's both funny and heartbreaking. The performances are all memorable, especially young Ye. While the colorful, gaudy digital cinematography creates a wild world of mystery for us to explore with her.