Dear Ex: so beautiful I can't think of a witty title

Written by Lu Shih-yuan and Mag Hsu, and directed by Mag Hsu and Hsu Chin-yen, Dear Ex is a Taiwanese dramedy. It was released in 2018 and is currently available to stream on Netflix. The film was nominated for 26 awards and won 10, including "Best Feature Film," "Best Leading Actress/Actor," "Best Original Film Song," and "Best Film Editing."

The main characters are as follows:

Song Cheng-xi (on the back): played by Joseph Huang

Liu San-lian: played by Hsieh Ying-xuan, Cheng-xi's mother

Jay: played by Roy Chiu, Cheng-xi's father's "mistress"

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The plot progresses through the lens of Cheng-xi, a teenager who is caught in a feud between his mother and his father's lover, Jay. We find out immediately that Cheng-xi's father has very recently passed away and that Jay is the beneficiary. Cheng-xi's mother is furious at this and demands that he give the money back, so that it can go to her son. We see everything as Cheng-xi does, we get a front row seat to his thoughts and emotions. He hates both his mother and Jay; his mother for desperately seeking the insurance money and Jay for "stealing his father." As the film progresses and Cheng-xi learns more about Jay and his father's relationship he starts to question whether he really is the bad guy.

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Jesus H. Christ I was crying exactly 38 minutes into this movie. It is without a doubt one of the most, if not the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. From the unique plot, the soundtrack, and the color palette, the work of the cast and crew paid off. The entire movie is narrated by Cheng-xi, who is going through typical teenage angst of hating his mother and not so typical angst of hating his dead father's lover. There is a childlike wonder to watching this movie, until it delves more into the serious aspects. Watching this movie almost felt like I was reading the intimate diary of a teenager, something that you probably shouldn't be reading.

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The acting in this film is phenomenal, it is clear as to why Roy Chiu and Hsieh Ying-xuan were awarded. Each character is complex, Cheng-xi, his mother, and Jay. They are each such distinct people that are both likeable and unlikeable at times. They feel like real people, like I am walking beside them and listening in on their conversations. Cheng-xi is a typical teenager, probably relatable to some. Typical teenage angst, though his situation is a bit different. His mother is a wonderful woman, despite having her own flaws. She is a dramatic person, as you will find out from Cheng-xi, though she has her reasons. She despises Jay, and spends most of the movie making this clear. Despite this, she has redeemable qualities, especially in the final act. Jay is an eccentric character. He does not care for Cheng-xi or his mother, and doesn't seem to care much about the fact that he had an affair with a married man. Though, later he also has redeeming qualities and it is clear that he had no bad intentions.

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The story itself is all too familiar, a closeted gay man marries a woman in an attempt at a normal life but an inevitable affair with a man ruins it. I won't get too argumentative though I will say it is a situation in which no one wins. The film really portrays this. None of the characters are winners, and not one character is better than the other. At the start of the film you may find Jay and the mother particularly annoying or rude, they both have flaws. However, you will find that neither of them are really in the wrong, they both have valid reasons for doing what they did/do.

I have to emphasize the beautiful cinematography and color palette. The color scheme of Jay's apartment matches the dinginess of it perfectly, while the bright white color of the therapist's office matches its sterile environment. There are scenes in which Jay has flashbacks to his time with Cheng-xi's father, these flashbacks mesh with the present world, with Cheng-xi appearing to watch these intimate moments himself. The way the movie is filmed and edited puts forth a kind of beauty that I rarely see. The switches from present to past are so fluid that sometimes it is hard to tell which is which. I suppose this mirrors the way that all three characters are stuck in the past, revolving around one man.

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The entire soundtrack itself is quite peaceful, you can listen to the whole playlist on YouTube. Here is one of the main songs of the soundtrack, if you'd like to give it a listen.

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Dear Ex without a doubt earns a 5 out of 5 zombie heads. This is the most beautiful film that I have ever experienced (as it really is an experience) in a while. Everything about it brought out emotions I didn't even know I had, I was laughing one minute and crying another (seriously I watched this in public and my throat was burning from holding back tears). I cannot stress this enough, if you do watch any of these films, please give this one a try. Oh yeah...not once would I have heard a single zombie outside of my house, not that I would have cared anyway. I could have been bit and still not noticed.

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“Dear Ex.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Feb. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_Ex.