Warm hearted movie that leaves you wanting more
Before all, I have to comment on the ending cause it deserves it's own applause !! The whole room went silent when the revelation was made. Even an old woman in front of me just shouted from the shock as it was sooo unexpected !The storytelling is beautifully made. Even so that it truthfully depicts complex characters in a complex world where asian traditions and modern habits tend to confront everyday in our society. The relationship between the characters seem quite usual at first nothing out of the ordinary with a conflicted relationship btw a mother who seems to have lost all of her marks and her first daugther + a typical sister relationship.
But once you know how it ends, every little scenes take suddenly more importance !! That's when you realize how smart the storytelling was !
It's a 10 out 10 experience that you have to truly live and feel and will surely make you want to rewatch it again and again !
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" A married daughter is like water that's poured out"
Director Tsou Shih Ching created a chaotic yet charming film using an iPhone and some of her own memories. Three generations of women working to support their families reveal archaic beliefs about gender and superstitions about left-handedness.Cheng Shu Fen with her daughters I Ann and I Jing move from the countryside to Taipei where Shu Fen sets up a noodle shop stall in the busy night market. Their apartment is crowded and the market noisy. While Shu Fen works the noodle shop, high school dropout I Ann chooses employment at a betel nut and smoke stand. I Jing goes to grade school and helps her mom afterwards, making friends throughout the market. When Shu Fen becomes saddled with debt connected to her ex-husband, her business hangs in the balance. Born without a Y chromosome, her family refuses to lend her money as they would have if she had been a son. Shu Fen’s father refuses to let I Jing use her left hand around him saying it is evil and the Devil’s hand. The old superstition leads to some curious consequences. I Ann begins a relationship that leads to its own consequences.
At the beginning it was difficult to tell if the little family actually cared about each other. Much of the film was shown through I Jing’s innocent eyes or I Ann’s jaded ones. Young Nina Yeh as I Jing gave a wonderful performance for one so young. I Jing struggled with her grandfather’s order to comply and conform to his societal view on left-handedness. She was the sunshine in the dark alley of their lives. Ma Shih Yuan’s I Ann was a tough nut to crack, always cloaked in a hard shell. Yet there were scenes where her vulnerability broke through revealing the caring, loyal young woman beneath. Ever exhausted physically and emotionally, Janel Tsai showed how Shu Fen had her own unmet needs. Each of the three longed for acceptance, affection, and attention, never daring to speak their inner desires. All three exhibited tenacity and independence often clandestinely supporting each other. One of the more touching and relatable scenes in the film took place with I Ann and I Jing traversing the market lacking any words of affection but overflowing with poignant emotions.
Left-Handed Girl followed Shu Fen and her family as they faced opportunities and set-backs in the chaotic, busy streets of the night market. Starting over is never easy when gender obligations and limits rear their ugly heads. All told, four generations of women had their own secrets that culminated in a catharsis that led to the truth, forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation. Everything you could want from a spunky family drama of women looking for a better life.
2 December 2025
Trigger warnings: Smoking. Sexual content. Brief nudity.
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A family story around Tapei night market
This movie grabbed my attention thanks to its original storytelling and filmmaking as we follow 3 generation of women/girls from the same family : mother - sister - daughter, adult - young adult/teen - kid, it is fascinating to see their interactions as they are resetting their life in Tapei night market.The market (and Tapei) are characters in itself. The way the director is filming it, so buzzy with noise and people feels super real. There are a lot of interesting scenes where the camera put itself at the level of the 5 years old daughter navigating the bustling with life market that are truly immersive. It just feel real and raw at so many levels.
Acting was quite good with the young actress Nina Yeh making an excellent job as the adorable 5 year old daughter. Ma Shih Yuan and Janel Tsai complete the family in a very believable way. You feel the love, the rebellion, the fights and the disappointments in their relationships.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a familial movie which rather than leaning on the wholesome aspect goes into greyer sides of poor & women-only family.
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Through the streets of Taipei
Following around the streets of Taipei, Left Handed Girl follows a mother and her 2 daughters who just newly moved to the city.Technically, the movie is well directed, letting the audience view through the streets of Taipei through the character's POV. A vlog style direction is handled well by the newcomer Shih Ching Tsou through iPhone.
While the narrative is shaky at times, the characters are well written and shows their individual struggle to make through every day. Three generations of women working to support their families reveal archaic beliefs about gender and superstitions about left-handedness.
The biggest highlight of the movie was Nina Ye playing a 5 year old kid, seeing her family struggle through various situations and her own dilemma of being left-handed. There was pure innocence in her performance that really made me stick to the movie till the end.
Narratively, the focus was not constant. The pacing was uneven, the characters especially Shih-Hua-Ma could have been written better.
My Rating : 3.5/5
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The Little Star: Nina Ye's (I-Jing) performance is described as "a hurricane."
The film marks the solo directorial debut of Shih-Ching Tsou, a longtime collaborator of Sean Baker (director of Anora and The Florida Project). Baker's style is evident: the film was shot entirely with iPhones, which lends a raw, vibrant, and extremely intimate aesthetic to the streets and night markets of Taipei.The story follows Shu-Fen, a single mother who returns to Taipei with her two daughters: the rebellious teenager I-Ann and the young I-Jing, aged 5. They try to survive by opening a modest noodle stall at a night market.
The central conflict explodes when the conservative grandfather forbids little I-Jing from using her left hand, calling it the "devil's hand." This superstition becomes the catalyst for family secrets kept for three generations to begin to surface, revealing traumas and lies that sustained the union of these women.
The Little Star: Nina Ye's (I-Jing) performance is described as "a hurricane." Her naturalness and the way she portrays the anguish of believing her own hand is "cursed" bring moments of lightness and heartbreak.
Urban Realism: The film uses Taipei as a living character. The chaos of the markets, the neon lights, and the pressure of the working class are captured in a documentary style, making the viewer feel the heat and exhaustion of the characters.
Female Dynamics: The work avoids obvious villains. The focus is on the "invisible work" of women and how affection and resistance go hand in hand, even in situations of extreme poverty and patriarchal oppression.
"The Left-Handed Girl" is not a cliché overcoming-adversity drama. It's a film about survival and identity. It balances "cute" childhood moments with the harshness of family secrets that, when revealed, permanently change the perception of who is "mother" and who is "sister."
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