Movie: Left-Handed Girl (2025)
Production Companies: Good Chaos, Cre Film, Le Pacte
Distributed by: Netflix
Producer(s): Shih-Ching Tsou, Sean Baker, Mike Goodridge
Directed by: Shih-Ching Tsou
Written by: Shih-Ching Tsou, Sean Baker
Starring: Janel Tsai, Nina Ye, Shih-Yuan Ma
Review by: Stefano Todaro

The dynamic duo of Shih-Ching Tsou and Sean Baker is responsible for some of the most human stories put to film this century. Shih-Ching Tsou and Baker started their filmmaking partnership with 2004’s Take Out; the pair co-directed and co-wrote the film. Their artistic relationship grew from there, with Shih-Ching Tsou acting as an executive producer on Baker’s 2012 film Starlet, and as a producer on Tangerine, The Florida Project, and Red Rocket. Now with Left-Handed Girl, the two filmmakers are working together again, but this time with Shih-Ching Tsou taking sole directing responsibilities for the first time in her career; Baker is attached as a co-writer. Left-Handed Girl adds to their collection of stories rooted in the human experience, and it’s also one of 2025’s most beautiful films.

Beauty can be found in multiple places in Left-Handed Girl. It’s in the city of Taipei, it’s in the character relationships, it’s in the camerawork, it’s in the performances, and it’s in what we feel as we watch it. Like 2015’s Tangerine, Left-Handed Girl was filmed entirely on an iPhone. The film’s look was cleverly dynamic and wonderfully bright, and the shot composition and movement added an intriguing “fly on the wall” element to the story. It’s a simple story. Shu-Fen, played by Janel Tsai, is a single mom who moves to Taipei with her two daughters to restart their lives and to run a food stand in the city’s night market. As simple as the basis of the story is, there’s so much profundity in what happens throughout the film’s basic structure.

The heart of Left-Handed Girl is I-Jing, Shu-Fen’s youngest daughter. At just five years old, she has an immense burden on her shoulders. She feels the responsibility of helping her family survive, but she also wants to be a kid. It’s not that her older sister, I-Ann, and mother expect her to contribute as much as they contribute, but I-Jing’s enormous heart forces her to feel like she needs to take on some of the family’s responsibilities. I-Jing is also faced with having the Devil’s hand. Or at least that’s what some of her family members call her left hand after seeing her eat with it. Being so young, I-Jing can’t help but believe these myths and takes this power very seriously. Using that left hand leads to nothing but trouble.

An uneven performance from a young actor can topple a film, especially when serious matters are at stake. Yes, it can be easy to overlook any faults because it’s cruel to look down on a child actor doing their best, but it’s hard to ignore if it negatively impacts a film as a whole. Thankfully, this isn’t an issue in Left-Handed Girl. Nina Ye, the wonderful actor who plays I-Jing, gives one of the best child actor performances I’ve seen in quite some time. Since we see the world through her eyes, a great performance is crucial to the film’s success. It’s incredibly reminiscent, both the perspective and the incredible performance, of Brooklynn Prince in Sean Baker’s The Florida Project. I’d be underplaying Nina Ye’s performance by saying it was good “for a child.” What she’s able to accomplish in this film is one of the more impressive acting feats of the year. Really, the entire cast shines. The performances are so authentic and natural that at times it feels like you’re watching a documentary, as if the camera is just following these people around Taipei.

There’s a tenderness to Left-Handed Girl that will stick with you long after the credits roll, and so much of that is due to I-Jing’s point of view. What’s also clear is that Shih-Ching Tsou cares deeply about these characters; she understands that we see these people in our own lives every day. We don’t all live in Taipei, but we can easily find connections between people we know and these characters. Everybody who interacts with Shu-Fen, I-Jing, and I-Ann plays a part in their lives, no matter how big or small their impact might be. Sometimes it’s those small interactions that affect our lives the most, for better or for worse. Left-Handed Girl is somber, sweet, but most importantly, a joy. The film can be sobering, but it will undoubtedly leave you with a big smile on your face.

9.2/10

By: Stefano Todaro