I Will Make You Mine gives an honest take on growing up. Despite the entirety of the movie being in black and white, it still highlights the important aspects of the livelihoods of the characters. The film is a part of the semi-sequel of Surrogate Valentine (2011) and Daylight Savings (2012). Gravitas Ventures will release the film on May 26. 

Lynn Chen is the writer and director of this original piece. She also stars in Silicon Valley, Fear the Walking Dead, NCIS, Numbers, Law and Order, and with recurring roles on All My Children and The Affair.

Although the City of Austin cancelled this year’s South By Southwest (SXSW) on March 6 due to coronavirus concerns, we were able to review the film, which would’ve premiered this past weekend.

Check out the trailer here! 

Summary

The movie revolves around three characters:

While each of the women live different lives and have different economic statuses, they all share one flaw in common. Their romantic history with singer-songwriter, Goh Nakamura (plays himself), moves back into town, causing them to put their lives on hold to figure out where they all stand. 

The characters

Rachel

Rachel’s luxurious lifestyle is one that most women strive for. While you would think that since her life is impenetrable, she’s burdened with the idea of her cheating husband looming over her. As a way to help her cope with the heartache, she looks up Goh on Youtube and finds remedy in listening to his music. 

Erika

Erika’s character is quiet and solemn. She goes through a life alternating event that makes her closed off to opportunities and changes in her life. The challenges of motherhood leaves Erika struggling to take care of her daughter, Sachiko. In the movie, we see Erika’s frustration with Goh and the unreliableness. Although she feels that she has accepted the way her and Goh didn’t work out, she still finds a sense of hope revisiting past memories of them together.

Yae-Ming

Yae-Ming is the typical hipster musician that we normally see in local coffee shops. Yae-Ming’s direction in life is hazy, she finds herself still wanting to follow her passion in music. From working at different gigs and flip-flopping jobs, Yae-Ming’s life is still in the works. Yae-Ming shares a mutual connection in music with Goh. As the two jam together, Yae-Ming slowly finds the inspiration to write again. 

Goh

Goh is a struggling musician and a father to Sachiko. His indecision to make a clear career path for himself puts him in money tight situations. Goh is free-spirited and definitely goes with the flow.  Although, his unreliableness as we see through the film remains. He realizes that his main priority is to help give Sachiko a better future.

The music

The music works the film’s ambience. Since I’m already a big fan of ambient music, the transitioning of the music to the different scenes boded perfectly together. Chen’s creative skill in finding the right music for every scene is the cherry on top! 

Goh and Yae-Ming’s guitar skills bring a sense of positivity to the film. Their folky and uppity acoustic songs will make you want to pick up a guitar. Goh’s goofiness radiates throughout the movie as their jam sessions lead to some really great tunes. 

Asian representation is important

As the film industry is slowly progressing, the lack of minorities and people of color is becoming a trending topic. Watching films growing up, I’ve noticed that minorities and people of color hardly appeared on the big screen. And if they did appear, they would always be side characters and are portrayed as the token Asian character. 

Chen’s film is the perfect example of the right kind of Asian representation. The refreshing idea of having an Asian cast play typical white roles is something I don’t see everyday.

Conclusion

The message of the movie gives you many different perspectives of women going through their own struggles. It hits the nail on the head on being accepting of growing up and realizing expectations versus reality. The film could resonate with any audience. 

If you decide to check this film out, let us know what you think on Twitter @GeekGalsCo or in the comments below!

Read more of Davie’s articles here.

Check out more of our SXSW coverage here.

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Featured image credit: Gravitas Ventures