Preparing for the review of “Next Life” – a deep love story between marginalized people in New York | film

CChinese-American director Bing Liu made an impression with “Minding the Gap,” a poignant documentary about people from his hometown in Illinois; Now he focuses on the features with this sad and depressing study of romance and life choices among those living on the margins of American society, adapted from the award-winning novel of the same name by Atticus Leach.

The scene is the world of New York’s Chinatown, which asks no questions. Newcomer Sibi Bahtiyar plays Ayesha, an illegal Chinese Muslim Uyghur immigrant. One day, she catches the attention of Skinner, played by Fred Hechinger, a young military soldier who impulsively begins talking to her. There is a spark between them and then something more.

But the question of any potential relationship itself highlights other issues: Skinner takes medication for PTSD, and for Aisha, marrying a US citizen may not resolve her residency concerns; This could simply mean drawing attention to her questionable status and lead to imprisonment and expulsion.

The film shows how the two slip into a state of oblivion, drifting and circling each other. Maybe Aisha isn’t sure she wants to commit to a moody, drunken Skinner who can disappear for days at a time; Skinner isn’t sure he truly understands the abyss of cultural and historical grief from which his new girlfriend has emerged. For Aisha, survival means anonymity, and this self-effacement works against romance and marriage.

So what now? Is she waiting for something better in the next life, a frightening concept she faces as she considers resuming her faith. Or is this it? The film’s strength is in showing that there is nothing necessarily liberal or humane about the story of cross-cultural romance – it presents an existential challenge. For each participant, the relationship poses a question that would not exist if either of them had simply identified with one of their own cultures, as they might have graciously assumed to be the case. Their differences highlight and sharpen the idea of ​​choice; It forces Aisha and Skinner to look at themselves. Did they choose each other for life? And what is life?

This is a story in which happy endings are not guaranteed, and in fact, they are not imminent. It is characterized by seriousness and an unsentimental willingness to look at reality face to face.