Saving Face
2004 · Movie · R · 97 min · ★ 7.3 · 77% critics
In a Chinese-American community, a young woman and her traditional mother each hide a relationship that doesn’t fit family expectations. As secrets and gossip build, they’re pushed to balance love, identity, and duty while trying to protect their family’s reputation.
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Streaming on Howdy.
2 hours to watch.
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Details
- Years
- 2004
- Release date
- 2004-09-12
- Language
- English
- Rated
- R
- Runtime
- 97 min
- Critic score
- 77/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.3/10 (265 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want a light, heartfelt romantic comedy that also digs into family pressure and cultural expectations; Not for you if you dislike subtitles, low-stakes drama, or prefer darker queer stories like Shelter.
Pros: funny and moving; warm family focus; bright rom-com tone | Cons: simple, familiar setup; some forced romance; a bit unrealistic
Themes
- coming out
- homophobia
- chinese woman
- lesbian relationship
- cultural difference
- dating
- lgbt
- chinese american
- cultural conflict
- woman director
- intersectionality
- mother daughter relationship
- +2 more
Cast & crew
Joan Chen
as Ma
Michelle Krusiec
as Wil
Lynn Chen
as Vivian
Jin Wang
as Grandpa
Guang Lan Koh
as Grandma
Ato Essandoh
as Jay
- NG
Nathanel Geng
as Mr. Cho
- MZ
Mao Zhao
as Old Yu
Brian Yang
as Little Yu
- LW
Louyong Wong
as Dr. Shing
Directed by Alice Wu