Written by Andreas Babiolakis

Shih-Ching Tsou has worked with the (I still can't believe I'm saying this) multi Oscar-winning director Sean Baker frequently enough that I would consider the two a dynamic duo. Sure, Tsou has helped produce a number of Baker's films and was also the costume designer for Starlet and Tangerine, but their strongest partnership as equals has to be their co-directed effort, Take Out: a day in the tumultuous life of a Chinese deliveryman. This is a Baker film that feels the least like his signature style despite the heavy use of documentary-esque photography, the constant dread and panic, and the analysis of a side of America that many films ignore. It still felt as much Tsou's as it does Baker's, and so I was pleased to finally see Left-Handed Girl: a film directed solely by Tsou just to see what she would make next; Baker did help write this film, as well as serve as its sole editor). It's true that this feels like a Tsou film through and through, mainly because Left-Handed Girl is not nearly as stressful or manic as Baker's works. Instead, it embraces its conflicts with consolation.

What isn't so different to the works Tsou has worked on before is the hardship of lives that often go untold. We follow single mom Shu-Fen (Janel Tsai) and her two young daughters moving to Taipei, Taiwan to start a new life. The youngest is I-Jing (Nina Ye) who is wide-eyed and curious about her surroundings. The eldest is I-Ann (Ma Shih-Yuan): a young adult who is more disillusioned; she has experienced enough of life to see how rough things can be. This move is either a new experience or the same-old struggle; Left-Handed Girl teaches us that both can be true. Instead of the high-octane domino effects of other films Tsou has helped make, Left-Handed Girl shows restraint and care. Sure, it is still a stressful watch mainly because of what turmoil takes place, but Tsou allows the weight of each scene to work on its own (as opposed to trying to encourage the severity furthermore).

*Left-Handed Girl* is a far-less manic affair from Shih-Ching Tsou and Sean Baker, but it is a compelling character study nonetheless.

Left-Handed Girl goes about its story for a certain amount of time before revealing its most shocking card in its third act: a twist that recontextualizes everything that came before it. Suddenly, much of the film makes more sense. How much are we willing to give up in order to support our loved ones? Is it possible to give up too much of ourselves? Left-Handed Girl is a soft-spoken whopper of a film that I hope garners even more traction than it has already achieved. This is the kind of international film that may have already made small waves but can be adored even more down the line like Nadine Labaki's Capernaum, considering how effective it is at relaying its cultural and universal themes with such intensity while never rubbing our noses in any intended emotion. I also hope that such ascension could help Tsou make another motion picture (should she intend to) because I feel like she's two great films in and, yet, we have yet to see her fullest capability thus far; I hope we don't have to wait nearly as long as we did after Take Out.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.