Tigertail

"By drawing on specifics from his family story, Yang offers audiences — especially those with parents who were born abroad, as his were — a chance to see reflections of their own experience in a film determined to reconcile the gap between an immigrant father and his American-born child."

"It is as if memory is a vital ingredient that makes the drama live, with a throb that the here-and-now doesn’t have."

"There’s a heartbreaking current of loneliness and alienation that flows beneath even the most romantic scenes in Tigertail, a current that rises to the surface in shots of Ma eating dinner alone in his immaculately furnished, completely silent town house."

"Based very loosely on his dad’s own relocation and assimilation into American life, writer-director Alan Yang’s directorial debut has a way of gingerly lifting you up then quietly breaking your heart."

"While the movie doesn’t achieve the narrative mastery of its influences, Yang’s first feature has a touching emotional through line grounded in authenticity."

"Yang's script is thoughtful and precise: every character gets to be three-dimensional. Although the point of view is always Pin-Jiu's, Yang understands Angela's hurt, her yearning for her dad's love."