Richard is still trying to connect Kai's mother to the world after Kai's death as he faces great difficulties to achieve what he wants. Kai's mother seems to be a Cambodian Chinese who does not know anything about the English language, while Kai was the relationship between his mother and the world but he does not disclose that he is gay.
Despite a strong start, the filmmaker doesn't exactly know where to go with it. Still, there are moments before things get away from him that are captivating to watch and lovely to listen to, lilting.
Guilt hangs over "Lilting," a suffocating haze so thick that it permeates every unspoken, non-understood word between characters trying to traverse a frustrating gulf of language and grief.
Hong, who makes his feature debut here, has a masterful command of rhythm, beautifully weaving each strand of the narrative around that momentous opening scene.
[Lilting] wears its heart on its sleeve, but without bleeding too much, and is overly square and precise, but also a welcome reprieve from the irony-prone fair that most often fills our cinemas.
