The first movie written and directed by Chloé Zhao is a blueprint for her next two films. One can even say that the three films at times seem the same one, but this one is the one in which you can see the strings more clearly. The movie has a kind of open story where different characters enter and exit, like in "Nomadland", and like the other two movies, it's a little affected at times. You can see much clearer here the two main artistic references of Zhao: Terrence Malick and a kind of independent European cinema, that has in the Dardenne brothers a stylistic companion. It's a good example of a new artist trying to find her voice.
Review of Songs My Brothers Taught Me
