The first time I saw the movie's trailer, I thought to myself: "Yes." This is the kind of young, queer story I've been waiting for. Finally, we're getting a teen story with queer girls in the lead. Praise be to Alice Wu for making her cinematic return in The Half Of It.
The set-up seems simple. Ellie Chu (portrayed by Leah Lewis), an introverted straight-A Chinese-American high school girl, is stuck in the small town of Squahamish. She makes money by writing essays for her classmates, however, her latest client Paul (Daniel Diemer) isn't looking for someone to ghostwrite his homework but rather a love letter to the gorgeous Aster (Alexxis Lemire), whom Ellie is secretly in love with. A strange relationship unfolds between the three young souls as they start to grow closer while pondering their lives and the future that lies ahead, both in the small town and the world out there.
In a way, The Half Of It wasn't what I had imagined it would be at first. It was more and yet less all at the same time. Tender and subtly rebelling, the story explores the connection of three teens that departs from the traditional and stereotypical narrative we've seen. What the movie ends up being is not simply a full-blown romance where two young people meet and get swept off of their feet by one another but it's also an exploration of self -- both in life choices and sexuality.
Ellie and Aster visit a hot spring together. KC Bailey
Director Wu comes back roughly 16 years after her groundbreaking debut Saving Face and in a similar nature, the filmmaker's focus on love is not on the romantic aspect of it alone. Love doesn't just revolve around two people and is never detached from things such as family and culture that both define the character's actions and confine them all the same. As Wil, her mother, Vivian, and other people in the New York's Chinese community have thrived and struggled with social norms and cultural beliefs set by their community in Saving Face, so do Ellie, Paul and Aster here in The Half Of It, though in different degrees.
Here, in the setting of a small, remote town, the teens find themselves breaking away from the mould of family tradition in their respective ways. Like in Asian households, Western ones also have their own rules and beliefs. There is Ellie who questions college choices and seems to be the adult in her family as she lives alone with her father who speaks little English, making it difficult for him to get a better job even though he has a PhD in engineering (to touch on the migrant worker storyline a little). There is Paul who is trying to change his family's long-time sausage recipe. Last but not least, there is Aster, from a conservative Christian family dating a brainless rich guy, who seems mysterious and indecisive at times. In the end, the narrative of this coming-of-age drama takes us from finding love to finding self, dropping the pretence and shedding overbearing layers for one to pursue goals and dreams and be who they are.
Paul, the school's jock, hires Ellie to write a love letter for him. KC Bailey
Romance also gives way to friendship, or rather connections, between the characters. The film foregoes physical relationships for emotional intimacy. We see a blossoming platonic bond between Ellie and Paul, the confusion and awkwardness that ensue as Paul and Aster go on a date, and also the suggestive romance between Ellie and Aster herself. With each letter and subsequent text message Ellie sends and replies in Paul's place, the bond unknowingly forms between the two girls over their mutual interest in literature and classic films. When a chance encounter led Aster to take Ellie out to a hot spring, which Aster calls her secret place, the two kindred spirits bare their souls as they float together to If You Leave Me Now by Chicago. Three birds fly in the sky and a voice on the radio gets cut off before the music starts playing. Different symbols are found in this scene and it took going back to that sequence one more time to gather and feel them all.
Some films with LGBTI characters and storyline see their characters struggling to define who they are and their sexuality. But in The Half Of It, there is rarely a label. No outspoken question. No judgment. They are exploring quietly in their own ways, making messy decisions and right ones along the way. This unconventional love story also ends in a hopeful, positive note, with lots of future possibilities left to explore. Will we get a sequel? That kiss and a promise to "see you" in a few years between Ellie and Aster (Yes, they kissed!) still hangs in the air and it would be lovely to see where each of them end up since the first movie.
- The Half Of It
- Starring Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer and Alexxis Lemire
- Directed by Alice Wu
- Now streaming on Netflix
