After Yang (2022)

(On Cable TV, September 2022) Is it too soon to talk about “the A24 movie”? (No, decidedly not) In a decade of existence, film distributor A24 has managed to carve out a specific identity, or perhaps highlight an existing sensibility in the kind of low-budget films whose distribution rights it can afford to purchase. Works that are usually quiet yet shocking, with oddball ideas done in very grounded execution, slow-paced but with high-impact moments that make their films stick in mind even when you don’t like them. After Yang seems to be following the formula to perfection, but it also feels like the kind of low-budget Science Fiction we’ve seen more and more often in the past few years—familiar premises pushed with a different slant, relying on emotional material to the expense of pacing or energy. Those SF films don’t always make logical sense, but they’re hoping you don’t notice some elaborate slight-of-hand more closely associated with arthouse cinema (or low-intensity drama) than the typical big-budget spectacle. After Yang holds true to those as well—aside from a hilariously misleading high-energy dance competition credit sequence, the film is a sedate, meditative, often sad affair as a family with a broken-down humanoid tries to get it repaired before its memories expire. This soon exposes a privacy-busting conspiracy, but don’t worry: the way After Yang goes about its business, there’s barely any intensity except for whether Yang can be brought back. The questions raised about humanity, as it can be incarnated by an artificial being, are familiar, cheap and easy—but the film lingers on them, trying to make in depth what it can’t in originality. This, in many ways, is SF made for drama fans rather than techno-nerds: not quite so imaginative in taking an idea and running with it, but willing to explore a small concept in detail. As someone of the techno-nerd persuasion, I don’t quite respond as well to this kind of SF movie: I’d rather have many ideas rapidly shown than a single one explored in detail. But I can’t be too harsh on the result, nor ignore that this kind of SF drama is helping improve the genre’s respectability among genre-averse critics and filmmakers interested in stretching the usual labels of the genre. As for After Yang specifically, it’s not necessarily a waste of time: Colin Farrell adds another good performance in his post-stardom, character-actor phase. Writer-director Kogonada builds an appealing vision of a post-racial future that doesn’t call attention to its quirkiness. Sure, I found the entire thing a bit too dull for my liking, but it’s still a decent film—and who knows, maybe the ones it inspires will have more pep to them.