Funny, tender coming-of-age dramedy; cursing, teen partying.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Language
a lot
Frequent strong language includes "f--k," "motherf----r," "s--t," "bitch," "ass," "d--k," "screw," "freak," "schlong," "f-g," "dumb whore," "gay," etc. A character squints his eyes and says "oh me so horny" when pointing at an Asian American child. One character says someone is "pretty cute for an Asian." Bathroom humor includes a boy peeing into a bottle of lotion.
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Crude conversations about sex via text or in person (e.g., "finally get your d--k wet," etc.). One character touches another's penis through clothes during a "nervous game."
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Underage substance use (alcohol and drugs) at a party where teens are drinking and using various drugs. A character accidentally swallows a joint after taking a hit.
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Chris punches a kid who says cruel things to him. He later says terrible things to his mother, jumps out of her car, and runs away. A group of friends blows up someone's mailbox as a prank. Characters dare one another to fight, but then one punches the other in the face, saying "he bit my nipple."
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Brands/products seen include Toyota, MySpace, AIM, McDonald's, Panasonic.
Diverse Representations
a lot
The cast and crew are mostly Asian American. Writer-director Sean Wang is, like the main character, Taiwanese American and from Fremont, California. Characters are ethnically and racially diverse, and the movie captures an immigrant kid's unique struggles to fit in and please his family. Except for Chris' mom, girls and young women have secondary or background roles. Some characters demonstrate racism, which is portrayed negatively: A character squints his eyes and says "oh me so horny" when pointing at an Asian American child, and someone says a boy is "pretty cute for an Asian."
Promotes open communication between teens and parents, including one-on-one sharing of what's going on at school and personally. Explores the difficulties of going through adolescence in the age of social media and the courage it takes to speak up for yourself. Captures some of the truths and challenges of growing up in an immigrant family and community with set expectations.
Positive Role Models
some
Chris' mother is patient and loving. She wants to connect with her son. Chris wants to belong, have a girlfriend, and hang out with his best friends. He makes mistakes and lies but also learns to appreciate his mother, family, and old friends. Chris' older sister finds him annoying but offers him her support and guidance.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Dìdi is a coming-of-age drama about a 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy the summer before he starts high school. Set in California in 2008, Dìdi includes frequent strong language ("f--k," "s--t," "ass," and more) in both text and conversations. The script also includes sexual innuendo/commentary ("get your d--k wet," etc.), and a teen girl touches a boy's penis through his pants, but it makes him nervous, and he asks her to stop. Main character Chris (Izaac Wang) is punched in the face during a fight—for fun—and another time beats up a kid who was calling him names. Teens drink and do drugs, and, in one scene played for laughs, a character swallows a joint and gets incredibly high. Despite Chris' rash decisions and self-deprecating embarrassment, he ultimately opens up lines of conversation with his mother and learns to be himself. Writer-director Sean Wang's dramedy won two major awards at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and continues his focus on semi-autobiographical Asian American stories following his Oscar-nominated short, Nai Nai and Wài Pó. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
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What's the Story?
DÌDI follows 13-year-old Chris Wang (Izaac Wang)—Wang Wang to his friends, Dìdi (younger brother) to his Taiwanese family—during the summer leading up to his first year of high school in 2008. Written and directed by Sean Wang, the story is full of Chris' angst and embarrassment as he awkwardly tries to flirt with his crush, hang out in co-ed friend groups, ingratiate himself with a crew of older skaters who smoke and party, and evade his mother's (Joan Chen) attempts to send him to SAT prep classes like the other Asian American teens in his community.
Wang's semi-autobiographical dramedy is a realistic, emotional story of growing pains and immigrant-kid self-criticism. Well-acted and thoughtfully directed, the movie has similarities to Eighth Grade and is a reminder that adolescence is as confusing and difficult for boys as it is for girls, even in the early age of social media. Young Wang is both hilarious and heartbreaking as the titular Dìdi, who doesn't know how to talk to girls or feel secure in his identity. And Chen is fabulous as a mother whose husband lives in Taiwan while she deals with two kids and her critical, demanding mother-in-law.
There's lots of angst, drama, and secondhand embarrassment in Dìdi, but the movie's moments of levity and humor are clever enough to keep it from getting too sentimental. As in actual adolescence, the screenplay doesn't offer a neat "happily ever after" for Chris, but he does learn several lessons the hard way. Wang's sure-footed direction explores a lot of serious themes in only an hour and a half. This is the sort of film that will remind adults of the mortifying aspects of being 13 but also resonate with any child of immigrants who can recall feeling othered or called "cute for a (insert your cultural identity here)." With this feature, Wang—who also wrote and directed the Academy Award-nominated short film Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó—has positioned himself as a rising filmmaker to watch.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about which aspects of Dìdi are universal to coming-of-age stories. What makes Chris' struggles authentic or relatable?
In what ways does filmmaker Sean Wang incorporate cultural themes or what it's like to grow up as a first-generation Taiwanese American?
How would you describe the relationship between the teen characters and their parents? Are these relationships realistic, or exaggerated for humor? How does the movie promote communication between teens and parents?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Sandie Angulo Chen
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based on child development research. How do we rate?
