ROSEMEAD

(director/writer: Eric Lin; screenwriter: Marilyn Fu, inspired by the Los Angeles Times article “A dying mother’s plan: Buy a gun. Rent a hotel room. Kill her son.” by Frank Shyong; cinematographer: Lyle Vincent; editor: Joseph Krings; music: Will Bates; cast:
Lucy Liu (Irene Chao), Lawrence Shou (Joe), Orion Lee (Charles), Jennifer Lim
(Kai-Li), Susan Pourfar (Dr. Charlot), Madison Hu (Jeannie), James Chen (Dr. Hsu, therapist), Eleven Lee (Helen); Runtime: 97; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Mynette Louie, Andrew D. Corkin, Lucy Liu; The Population; 2025)

“Bleak family drama.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Eric Lin, the New York based cinematographer, makes his feature film directorial debut with this bleak family drama about a shocking true story that tells of the relationship between a mother and son that leads to a tragedy. It’s inspired by the Los Angeles Times article “A dying mother’s plan: Buy a gun. Rent a hotel room. Kill her son.” by Frank Shyong. Lin co-writes it with Marilyn Fu. The news item points out the lack of mental health treatment offered in Asian American communities and how the Asian community desires to handle their problems by themselves.
 
The terminally ill recently widowed Irene Chao (Lucy Liu), a Chinese immigrant, lives in the east Los Angeles neighborhood called Rosemead with her 17-year-old son Joe (Lawrence Shou), who is labeled by his therapist, Dr. Hsu (James Chen), as a schizophrenic. It has become too much for her to take care of her cancer, try to keep the family’s printing business running and look after her needy medicated Joe.

Liu magnificently transitions from glamor roles in films such as “Kill Bill” and “Charlie’s Angels” into an non-glamorous role. Locked into her Chinese roots, her character deals with her son’s mounting problems privately. The result is a heartbreaking film of an Asian family not receiving all the support needed for their mental health issues because of various reasons including cultural ones over the need for secrecy. 

The humanitarian film deserves praise for the excellent performances, the superb photography by the cinematographer Lyle Vincent and its flawless execution. It’s a high-end film that sympathetically leads up to its avoidable tragic ending. But the filmmaker is not clear as to how the tragedy might have been prevented.

It played at the Tribeca Film Festival.

REVIEWED ON 12/1/2025  GRADE: B
dennisschwartzreviews.com