Ms. Purple

Ms. Purple
Image source: Google

Rating: 3.5/5

Duration: 1 hr 27 mins

Director: Justin Chon

Genre: Drama

Release Date: 06.09.2019     

Star Cast: Tiffany Chu, Teddy Lee, Octavio Pizano, James Kang, Ronnie Kim, Alma Martinez, Abigail Kim, Daniel Kim

Plot: The poignant drama Ms. Purple is all about the Asian American siblings Kasie (Tiffany Chu) and Carey (Teddy Lee), who happen to be living a compromised life in Koreatown, Los Angeles. Exempted from maternal love and care and raised by their loving father, Kasie and Carey continue to suffer from their unhealed emotional wounds received from the unpleasant parental dynamic. With their father suffering on the death bed at present, the estranged Carey returns home in order to assist his sister in caring for the old man. As the brother-sister duo reunites, Kasie and Cary start putting efforts to fix their relationship.

Review: Justin Chon’s new movie, Ms. Purple revolves around the feeling of loss. We all fear to lose our loved ones and can go up to any extent to keep them with us till eternity. But, the brother-sister duo of Ms Purple realizes that loss is nothing but an unavoidable part of life.

As a very responsible daughter, Kasie is struggling to take care of her sick father (James Kang). She does everything possible to earn money and look after the ailing old man. She works as a karaoke hostess at a nightclub, entertaining her unruly male clients. Her unpleasant job leaves her completely vulnerable. All the money she earns from her work goes in the nurture of her father.

One fine day the house nurse, who takes care of Kasie’s father, leaves her job, unhappy with the small pay that she was being given for her work. Unwilling to send her father to hospice, Kaise decides on taking care of her father herself. She calls up her brother, Cary for help and surprisingly he turns up right away.

Apart from her unpleasant domestic and professional life, Kasie is also experiencing a tough time with her boyfriend, in her love life. She happens to be sharing an on-and-off relationship with her wealthy boyfriend. However, she chooses to stay with him owing to the sense of security he provides her, which her terrible job does not.

The brilliant and heartfelt performance of both Tiffany Chu as a caring and dutiful daughter and Teddy Lee as a supporting son and brother are quite remarkable. Funny and intense acts of carrying his old father in his hospital bed to take a tour of the place behind the back of his sister and trying his best to nurture him make Lee’s character no less powerful than that of Chu.  

Chon, who has co-written the script of the movie with Chris Dinh, produces before the audience a proper manifestation of the forces of death and life, the relationship of a sister and brother, and the importance of a sense of security and happiness. Each layer of the script is beautifully explored. The viewers can be sure to easily fall in love with the emotions of the characters and just get blown away by the cinematography of Ante Cheng.

Overall, screened at the Sundance Film Festival, Ms. Purple is one such movie that is worth the time and money it takes to book a ticket and go watch it on screen.