Big World (2024)
When disabled method acting is shaky at best.
Presentation:
If you fell for the social media trap, your ears may have perked up for this modern Chinese indie film. The idea of Jackson Yee playing a teenager with cerebral palsy sounds potentially Oscar worthy, but only if you haven’t seen the disabled performances from Leonardo DiCaprio, Dustin Hoffman, among others. His overdramatic twitches are the marketing centerpiece of this film rather than the story, which is made overwhelmingly unwatchable through exaggerated handheld camera movement for a nauseating experience. Whosever decision it was to have shaky camera on top of constant seizures ruined an otherwise uplifting family flick. It devolves into a cheaply produced and unpleasant digital experience with formulaic popcorn humor.
Conclusion:
If you’re a fan of Jackson Yee, his charm might be good enough for you to overlook his acting here. It’s distractingly too much, but he’s not horrible evidenced by his performance in Resurrection. This isn’t really a film, it feels like practice or a marketing rebrand for the Chinese idol to position himself as an auteur method actor.
Recommendations
Lee Chang-dong finds humanity where no one else does.