Kogonada’sAfter Yangwas mostly known for beinga Colin Farrell filmin which he once again proved why he’s above most actors of his generation. Between this,Thirteen Lives, The Batman, The Banshees of Inisherin, andNorth Waterin the past year and a half, Farrell has been making everyone else look bad.
The actor keeps proving over and over why he shouldn’t be overlooked when speaking of the best modern performers. Farrell has a flexibility in his performances that’s never sacrificed for the sake of melodrama or a script that calls for something excessive. It’s a no-brainer why his presence inAfter Yangfeels like a targeted decision that just goes right.
This is a cold film. Its nature lacks emotion, and that’s because of the story it depicts. In the film, a family deals with a different kind of loss in a different kind of way, and Farrell is at the center of a discovery that shatters the balance of the social aspect of the tragedy.
Farrell’s performance is great, yes. But there’s another thing aboutAfter Yangthat made our heads turn. No, it wasn’t that initial dance sequence or the attention-grabbing role ofthe spectacular Clifton Collins Jr.It was something that at first remains secondary, but ultimately fuels the emotional drive of the film’s core pertaining to its investigation of human essence.Justin H. Minplays Yang in the film, and the American actor of Korean descent proves he has the capacity of becoming a force of nature with just the right script.
The Evolution of Family Dynamics
InAfter Yang, a futuristic society is capable of adding members to families through the use of androids. We learn this as a family loses Yang, a teenager who one day starts failing. When Jake the father is keen on recovering the android, he finds out there’s much more to the technological features: there are emotions involved and Yang’s chip holds more than just a recollection of vivid memories.
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However, the family doesn’t work the same in this warm (but emotionless) future. Emotions are repressed and love just doesn’t flow naturally. InAfter Yang, consciousness and self-awareness are a trait that seems to be more naturally connected to robots than to ourselves. And Jake, a seemingly loving father, learns this the hard way, when it’s definitely too late.
Justin H. Min’s Valuable Supporting Performance
Min’s performance feels natural, almost organic, in a film with a strange pace and personality. In the center, Farrell takes the lead as the father who opens himself to the possibility of realizing he may be distant from the model he wants to represent. But Min’s own expression is strong enough to stay throughout the film until the end, as part of the story’s DNA and reason.
It isn’t so much about the value of the character, as it is the performance itself. Min makes everything believable in a story of science fiction that’s well mixed with atouch of dystopiaand drama. Without him, it would be different, perhaps too plastic and manipulated for the sake of making the premise much more dramatic. And fortunately this isn’t necessary to makeAfter Yanga better film.
Expressing Emotions in After Yang
After Yangisn’t as emotional as it should be. Or at least it doesn’t work the same way as other sci-fi dramas that thrive on conflict, or call for the rare presence of emotions in the atypical future where metal and plastic rule above everything, and robots are mere servants without feelings.
InAfter Yang, that android, and the actor who plays it, remains the reason why the film feels honest and grounded while being a depiction of a horrible future. It isn’t an easy feat to accomplish in such an original film with an identity that needs to remain pristine for the sake of the story’s final message.
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Justin H. Min looks like a playful actor because his characters have taken him towards that direction. However, inAfter Yangthere’s much more than the expected physicality and how it plays well for the film’s tone. Min doesn’t revert to the same tools he’s used before inthe cast ofThe Umbrella AcademyandDating After College. The role is much more difficult to portray as he needs to tell a whole story with a running time that’s fairly short, and he needs to address his drive behind the performance of Farrell, an actor with lots of experience. Yet everything is natural for the young actor. Surely, Kogonada is also to be complimented for this, as the director remains in control from beginning to end in such an emotionally complex film.
Min isn’t the only reason why you should watchAfter Yang. The film’s sci-fi tone is original, and that feels like a rare item nowadays. But yes, this could also be a heavily edited showcase for the actor who keeps getting more views as his career progresses. This is a film that portrays awkward emotions in the greatest expression of organized chaos, and Min steals every scene he’s in because he injects humanity into the story, making his character incredibly relevant until the end.
Whatever Min set out to do, he did more. So much more.
