The Story:
Dear Ex is a Taiwanese film about Cheng-xi (Joseph Huang), a teenage boy, his mother, and his father’s male lover. It opens with Cheng-xi telling us that adults are stupid, that his father died ninety-five days ago, that people say bad men killed his father for the insurance money, and he always knew his father was gay. As he speaks, we see drawings of a red showbox, headphones, and other items from the movie. His father is drawn as a man with wings who flies off into the real world. It’s a beautiful way to open the film, and lets you know that you’re about to watch something special.
The first third of the film is told through Cheng-xi, who views his mother, San-lian (Hsieh Ying-xuan), as loud and angry. She’s upset that the money from Cheng-xi’s father’s insurance plan is going to his surviving gay lover, Jay (Roy Chiu), and not to their son, Chen-xi. She drags Cheng-xi to Jay’s apartment and pounds on his door, calling him lazy and insisting he answer. When Jay comes home, he asks her to move so he can go inside. Instead of being embarrassed that he was out and not sleeping in, she accuses him of switching the name of the beneficiary so he would get the insurance money and not her son. She then introduces Jay to Cheng-xi, who tries to distance himself from his mother and the ensuing drama. And during the commotion, Jay’s phone rings, and the ring tone is Cheng-xi’s father saying, “Husband, pick up the phone.” It takes San-Lian off guard and she covers Cheng-xi’s ears.
Although the plot centers around the insurance money, Dear Ex is a story of relationships. Cheng-xi refers to his mother as his father’s mistress and Jay as his father’s male lover. It’s as if Cheng-xi feels that neither of them had the deeper relationship of husband or wife to his father. And just as Cheng-xi refuses to accept San-lian’s relationship to his father, San-lian refuses to acknowledge Jay’s relationship with her ex-husband as anything but self-serving. And Jay, who Chen-xi thinks is on drugs and walks around in his pajamas, is actually lost and heartbroken by the death of his lover. There’s a scene early on where Jay brings food to a hospital and hands it to a confused nurse as she attends to her patient. When Jay looks at the patient, he seems a bit befuddled, as if he doesn’t know why he’s there, and rushes out of the hospital. It isn’t until later in the movie when we see Jay taking care of Chen-xi’s father as he undergoes chemotherapy, that the scene makes sense.
The relationship between Cheng-xi and his mother is like oil and water, with Cheng-xi quietly moving away from her as she cries and yells. San-Lian focuses so much on Jay getting the money from the insurance policy that he feels it’s all she cares about, so he runs off to stay with Jay. And although Jay insists that Chen-xi go home, he refuses to do so and stands his ground. And this is when start to learn more about Jay and his relationship with Chen-xi’s father.
This is also when we begin to see more of San-lian’s story, how she met Chen-xi’s father, and the inevitable divorce. And as the full story unfolds, we begin to see that Jay and San-lian are acting out of pain and sadness. What starts as a light story about an angst-filled teenager ends up being about loss, longing, and love. Despite keeping a light tone, it’s touching and sad.
Final Thoughts:
The rich colors and well framed shots make this an easy film to watch. It has animated overlays that are used sparingly and with purpose. The directors, Mag Hsu and Chih-Yen Hsu, have an eye for detail and understand how to tell a compelling story. Dear Ex is original, well-acted, directed and told. It’s a pure delight.
You can see Dear Ex on Netflix.
