Much of the drama on the transition to adulthood “Go Back to China” takes place in a toy factory, where workers nimbly reconstruct stuffed animals on their sewing machines. They work quickly, focusing on creating a product that can first pass inspection and ultimately inspire joy. If only the film around them was so clever.
The film follows Sasha (Anna Akana), a budding designer whose life in Los Angeles is funded by her father (Richard Ng), a toy maker in Shenzhen. When Sasha is unable to find a job, her father interrupts her financially. What Sasha’s dominating father wants, he gets, and he wants Sasha to return to China and start working in the family business.
Sasha capitulates and settles in Shenzhen, where she meets her half-brothers and sisters, who fight under the supervision of their father, and the factory workers of her family, who cower for fear of losing the little money that they win. Sasha learns some self-awareness, but her journey to enlightenment lags behind: even 95 minutes seem too long to spend in her company.
Emily Ting, who wrote and directed the film at the same time, sometimes strikes an interesting image, like the workers at their stations, but the biggest problem here is in the writing. By the time the film shows how a character feels, they’ve already said it twice to the audience – and probably another character has also explained it, just in case someone missed the memo. Among the actors, only Ng resonates. His character is the least understanding and the least understood, and, fortunately, Ng does not try to connect the dots between his mood swings. His performance suggests the film that could have been – a film in which the characters are allowed to be simply, without having to explain themselves.
Return to China
Unclassified. In English and Chinese, with subtitles. Duration: 1 hour 35 minutes.