Dìdi, the feature-length directorial debut from Sean Wang, is full of AOL Instant Messenger chat rooms, MySpace profiles, and Warped Tour-era pop-punk music, making the coming-of-age film essentially the first great 2008 period piece.
Few movies thus far have portrayed the internet, namely what it was like growing up in the dawn of social media and texting on flip phones, with such acuity and love as this heartwarming slice-of-life movie set in Fremont, California, about 14-year-old Chris Wang (a.k.a. Wang Wang, a.k.a Dìdi) in the summer before high school. The aspiring skateboarder/filmmaker (played by Izaac Wang) navigates friendships, crushes, his Taiwanese-American identity, and his relationship with his mom, painting a vivid on-screen portrait of what many millennials and Gen Zers experienced in their own teen years.
