In the haunting but ultimately inert domestic drama “After Yang,” Colin Farrell and Jodie Turner-Smith play Jake and Kyra, a couple living in the near distant future. They adopted their daughter Mika from China and, following the traditions of their culture, they’ve added another member to their family, the titular Yang, a mannered andorid who is their to be Mika's big brother but also to impart the Chinese culture onto her as her parent's feels they could not.

At the heart of After Yang is one's search for connection. We see two diverging paths cross throughout the film. Jake is on a mission to fix Yang after a malfuction but comes across a myriad of problems that comment of today's technoligcial landscape and bioethics. Yang cannot be simply replaced as it has become unethical to throw him out as technology has become so life-like. Through this process we realise that Jake isn't satisfied with his choices in life, wishing that he had taken a bigger part in bringing up Mika rather than letting Yang do the heavy lifting. But unbeknowst to Jake, Yang was searching for connection too. We see that Yang wants to be more than what his coding asks of him and yearns to become human, making for intersting parallels.

The issue is that Kogonada's style is too busy with aesthetic and subtely that it works against the interesting themes on display here. The characters are just far too mannered and distancing for the work to be affecting, leaving me quite cold to what could have been a moving piece. The only performance that really shines here is that of Yang who is able to depict his longing for connection that made for a few fleeting moments of greatness. It needed to move away from it's over-composed and structured manner into something that feels more messy and human so that the audience can start to feel the emotions radiating through the screen. It's just a rather dull experience that has an interesting story to tell but lacks the vision to actualy tell it. It's a bit of a shame as I've been excited for this film for a while. Still, I'll always be eager to see what Kogonada has in store for us next.

6/10