Chinatown is the setting for family conflict in this short but sweet comedy from director and writer Ziyu Luo. Yan Cui stars as Chen Hui, an undocumented Chinese immigrant living with her dutiful daughter Marilyn (Jessica Lee), a resident doctor. At a family dinner to celebrate a successful Green Card assessment, it emerges that Marilyn is planning to move to LA to pursue her dream of acting. This sparks conflict between mother and daughter, as old wounds begin to surface.

The central bond between Cui and Lee is very endearing, with each trying to get their message across through a fog of anxiety (and too much alcohol). As Marilyn rages at her mother with the line “you just cared about how high I fly, but never asked me if I was tired of flying”, you can feel the exhalation of a childhood trauma.

Generational dependence and conflict are themes at the heart of many successful feature films, and viewers will be reminded of Academy favourites Everything Everywhere All At Once (Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, 2022) and The Farewell (Lulu Wang, 2019), as well as perhaps elements of Best Picture Oscar winner CODA (Sian Heder, 2021). What American Daydream does to distinguish itself is avoid making broad judgements. Luo doesn’t ask us to scold Marilyn for leaving, nor is the film too hard on Chen for relying on her offspring. Instead, it hears all sides in an interesting take on the American Dream that, sadly, still isn’t explored enough on screen.

The short moves at a breakneck pace, fitting a lifetime’s worth of comedic trauma into under 14 minutes. This is perhaps the film’s biggest constraint, as the pace means you can be playing catch up as you piece together coded lines to get an idea of what’s at stake. However, the swiftness is balanced out by a very natural feel to the scene, as relatable family members all have their moments. The distracted teenage relative, gossipy aunties, and Marilyn’s actor friend who is woefully out of his depth all add to the sense of living within this family group, while the sharp exchanges in Luo’s script deliver a lot of laughs in a short time.

While it could have benefitted from a few more minutes, American Daydream left us wanting more from this particular family, which is no bad thing. Luo’s ability to balance tone and a lively cast suggests a technical ability that deserves a bigger platform. She has also chosen a theme that we should certainly see more of from other filmmaking voices.

American Daydream premiered in HollyShorts Film Festival.