Preparation for the Next Life
Bing Liu's drama is most commendable when rooted in the textured aesthetics of its cinematography and sound design, but less so in its lightly-sketched script
When Atticus Lish's debut novel Preparation for the Next Life was published in 2014, one New York Times critic described it as 'perhaps the finest and most unsentimental love story of the new decade.' Arriving 11 years later from Oscar-nominated director Bing Liu (Minding the Gap) and Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright-turned-screenwriter Martyna Majok (Cost of Living), the film adaptation certainly lives up to the 'unsentimental' label.
Liu's slow-burn drama centres on the unlikely romance between two lost loners in contemporary New York: Aishe (Sebiye Behtiyar, very compelling in her feature debut), an undocumented Uyghur immigrant labouring for little pay in Chinatown's underground kitchens, and Skinner (Fred Hechinger), a young American combat veteran who's just arrived in the city with a determination to do anything but return to his home state. The only obvious connective tissue in their backgrounds is an interest in physical training – hers inspired by the military father she lost; his as a means of managing PTSD symptoms that his prescribed meds aren't calming, their supply dwindling anyway due to how being discharged has screwed his healthcare.
As a studio-backed film that's at least trying to meaningfully tackle the subject of oppressive governmental systems impeding people simply trying to live and love, the film is a commendable, sometimes stirring work. But while many of the best sequences are rooted in the textured aesthetics of its cinematography and sound design, the overall portrait of individuals navigating emotional and legal unpredictability feels too lightly sketched in its details as written and edited.
Released 12 Dec by MetFilm Distribution; certificate 15