THEMOVIES

The story is told from the point of view of the left-handed 5-year-old I-Jing (Nina Ye), who moves with her mother Shu-Fen (Janel Tsai) and teenage sister I-Ann (Shi-Yuan Ma) to Taipei, where her mother opens a stand at a buzzing night market. It is an unfortunate reality that in many cultures around the world, the left hand is taboo. Some traditions consider it unclean, others brand anyone who uses it as impure on a physical and spiritual level. I-Jing believes that, because of these superstitious beliefs, she possesses supernatural—albeit devilish—powers. These prove useful as she tries to solve the financial troubles her mother is facing. I-Jing starts to shoplift, her left hand taking on, in her perception, a sinful life of its own. Shot entirely on iPhones, the film is a raw and empathic story about family secrets, resilience and the struggles of an Asian woman in a society that still prizes sons over daughters. The film presents the three women as they are: flawed and vulnerable, while also highlighting their deepest, most human qualities. Note: When casting Nina, the director discovered that her young star had likewise been left-handed, but had been corrected by her grandmother. For her role in the film, Nina had to be retrained to use her left hand.