There are not many stories told about the experience of asian immigrant children growing up in the west, suddenly being forced to live in the mother country. More often, it's the story goes the opposite way (grown up in the east, then moved to the west), so this was a refreshing and interesting change. I think the film does a good job of portraying that first and second generation immigrant children can struggle with their identity and their place in the world when their environment and expectations change so drastically. Also really captures that universal feeling of being trapped in a family that may or may not know how to understand and support you. It's clear the adults are doing the best they can with the circumstances they're in, but as a child, that may not feel like enough. I think the biggest reason is that children have no agency over their lives, which can make it feel so hopeless. The way the parents and children interact and talk to each other is very quintessential Taiwanese too. Adults letting their frustrations and pressures affect how they respond to their children, whilst always wanting the best and spoiling them when they can. It's very clear that there is a lot of intergenerational trauma that will be passed on. I like that they didn't shy away from showing how Taiwan views corporal punishment both in the school and at home, because that was the reality for schools back then and often still is in homes. Children are taught they are not allowed to use violence to resolve conflict, yet every adult is shown to use it. Hopefully by showing it, audiences will see how brutal, traumatic and ineffective that is. Lastly, I really appreciated that all the cast were fluent in both languages. So many films break the immersion when it's clear they're only fluent in one when they're supposed to have a cross-cultural upbringing.