By: Andrew Wing

After Yang is a 2021 American science fiction drama film written, directed, and edited by Kogonada. It stars Colin Farrell (In Bruges, The Lobster), Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim, Without Remorse), Justin H. Min (The Umbrella Academy), Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, and Haley Lu Richardson (The Edge of Seventeen, Five Feet Apart).

The plot follows Jake (Farrell), a man searching for a way to repair his young daughter’s beloved companion – an android named Yang (Min) – who begins to malfunction, therefore becoming an unresponsive robot. In the process, Jake discovers the life that has been passing in front of him, and he reconnects with his wife (Turner-Smith) and daughter (Tjandrawidjaja) across a distance he didn’t know was there.

The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on July 8, 2021, and was released on March 4, 2022, by A24 and Showtime.

THE GOOD

Hands down, After Yang was definitely one of my most anticipated films of 2021. I really get excited about all the films that premiere at the legendary Cannes Film Festival, but once I saw that this film was both science fiction and was being distributed by A24, my already high expectations went even higher. I mean when I hear sci-fi and A24, my brain immediately goes to Ex Machina, a 2014 film that I view as one of the best films of the 2010s that really started A24 and helped make it into the film industry giant it is today. Enough of that though, once I heard that Colin Farrell, one of my favorite actors right now, was starring, let’s just say my excitement level was at an all-time high! So now that you’ve gotten some context into how much I was looking forward to checking this out, you must be asking yourself if it lived up to my expectations. Keep reading to find out!

First things first, this film is an astounding one that was masterfully crafted by Kogonada. Kogonada not only was the director of this film, but he also wrote and edited it, and he was superb in all three phases. Notice how I didn’t even bring up Kogonada when providing context for this film. The reason is that I only checked out his feature film debut Columbus from 2017 just the day before watching his second film, the film I am currently reviewing. I really liked Columbus and everything Kogonada did with it, so that was yet another cherry on top for me when it came to my hype for After Yang. But really though, after watching both films it is evident that Kogonada is a brilliant filmmaker whose craftsmanship is unlike anything I have ever seen. He fits the A24 vibe to an absolute tee, and I don’t know if I have ever had more respect for a single director after only seeing two films of theirs.

I think the best part of After Yang is honestly the screenplay written by Kogonada that is based on the story “Saying Goodbye to Yang”, which was written by Alexander Weinstein. From the outset, it is a uniquely cool and fresh take on what the future holds for us when it comes to androids possibly sharing homes with humans, but it’s much more than that. At its core, I found After Yang to be an existential meditation on grief that’s still a heartfelt triumph of modern science fiction storytelling. There were too many moments to keep count of the emotional back-and-forth dialogue we got from beginning to end, but they all were equally amazing and they will surely bring you to the edge of tears time and time again. However, for as emotional as this film got at times, Kogonada still keeps you with a smile on your face with some pretty funny moments that were unexpected, yet very valuable I thought. I won’t spoil it, but one of these moments comes early during the opening credits and you won’t want to miss it!

Next up when it comes to what I liked about this film is Kogonada’s direction and just every aspect of how this film was put together. Kogonada’s direction is all over this film. The way he edited certain scenes was just perfect, like a specific scene at the end of the film that he lets go a little longer so we can really take everything from it and soak it all in. Continuing with his editing, I thought the film was so well-paced and it was such a smooth watch. More than that though, and I know it is not all him, but the look of this film is breathtaking. The production design was flawless in my opinion, and the futuristic look of the houses and the cars was sick. As for the cinematography which looks extremely similar to his first film Columbus, I was shocked when I came to find out that the cinematographers were different, with this film being shot by Benjamin Loeb. Every shot was so calculated and I loved how they took advantage of beautiful mother nature. All of these things I’ve mentioned above just get taken to the next level behind the film’s beautiful score that we get from Aska Matsumiya and Ryuichi Sakamoto. I wish I could find another word to describe the music in After Yang, but beautiful best describes. Also worth mentioning, Sakamoto is responsible for the music in The Revenant, the movie that gave legendary actor Leonardo DiCaprio his first Best Actor Oscar win.

While I don’t think any of the performances in this will collect Oscar wins, that doesn’t take anything away from how amazing they all were. But none shined brighter than the man who had himself one hell of a March 4th this year, and that would be Colin Farrell. I say that because this film came out on that date, but also did The Batman (see Ted’s full review here), the superhero film that features an unrecognizable Farrell playing the iconic Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin. Back to this though, Farrell gives a truly magnificent performance here. It’s so hard to say what his career-best performance is because he is so versatile as an actor and he’s had so many memorable performances, but I will say this is one of them. His performance here is simple as he is just playing a father trying to do something that will in return make his daughter happy, but under the surface, we see throughout the movie and through his performance that he was the one who needs to find happiness as his whole life has been passing him by right before his eyes. I don’t know what the rest of 2022 has in store when it comes to the best performances from actors that will be deemed Oscar-worthy, but with how early we are in the year, I’m going to go ahead and put Farrell at the top of my list because the man deserves it.

Farrell’s performance definitely stole the show, but all the performances here are worth noting. Justin H. Min was outstanding as Yang, and it was strange how strongly he was able to play an android. I was so disappointed in myself that I didn’t recognize Min as Ben from The Umbrella Academy until doing some research, but he was just so so good. Also, all three of Jodie Turner-Smith, Haley Lu Richardson, and Clifton Collins Jr. were remarkable in their smaller yet vital roles. And lastly, I was just blown away by the kid performance we got from Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja. She was unbelievable and I promise this won’t be the last we see from her.

THE BAD

Yeah, if you haven’t been able to tell yet, I was a huge fan of After Yang and I don’t see anybody not liking this. However, as all A24 movies do, this film carries that unspeakable A24 vibe with it that most general audiences might define as weird or strange. It’s just the way all their movies are, and while I love them, they might not be your cup of tea and that’s fine.

Also, there were two small things that were going on in this movie that I guess I just didn’t understand. One was smaller, and that was the constant repetition of certain lines. I know it was only happening when Farrell’s character Jake would access Yang’s memories, and I guess it was to show the audience the two different points of view, but I didn’t love it to be quite honest and I don’t think it added a whole lot to the film as a whole. Second, and I found this issue to be a bit bigger than the last, there is a certain subplot that gets a lot of attention in the second third of the film that literally goes nowhere. Again, and I don’t want to harp on it too much because I loved Kogonada’s screenplay, but I just didn’t think it was needed.

THE VERDICT

Behind the masterful craftsmanship of Kogonada, After Yang is a heartfelt triumph of modern science fiction storytelling. Every inch of this film is breathtaking from the production design, cinematography, to its score. It also features some great acting across the board, but Colin Farrell takes the cake as he gives a magnificent performance that I found to be one of the best of his illustrious career.

Yes, it carries that famous A24 vibe and there is a subplot that goes nowhere, but it is a beautiful film that is now available to watch on Showtime, so I’d suggest checking it out!