Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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“All I Ever Wanted” reminds you that sometimes, what you desire, has always been there.
| Director(s) | Erin Lau |
| Screenplay By | Van B. Nguyen |
| Based On | N/A |
| Date Released (Film Festival – NewFest) | 10/13/2022 |
| Genre(s) | Romance, Young Adult, LGBT+ |
| Duration | 14 Minutes |
| Content Rating | Not Rated |
| Noted Cast | |
| Jennifer | Maria Zhang |
| Christine | Cathy Bui |
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Film Summary
Christine has become fully indoctrinated regarding what love could be, and with prom being tomorrow, not getting her dream promposal and person to go with sucks. Thankfully, her best friend Jen is more than willing to take her but because Christine has this fantasy built up so high in her head, clearly going with Jen is a consolation prize. At least for now.
Things To Note
Why Is “All I Ever Wanted” Rated Not Rated
- Dialog: Nothing Worth Noting
- Violence: Nothing Worth Noting
- Sexual Content: Nothing Worth Noting
- Miscellaneous: Nothing Worth Noting
Character Descriptions
Please Note: This character guide is not an exhaustive list of every cast member, and character descriptions may contain what can be considered spoilers.
Christine
Christine dreams of the perfect romance, and the longer it takes to show up, the longer she worries it may not happen to her.
Jen
Jen is the fun one between herself and Christine. She tries to bring Christine out of her fantasies and into reality and even prepares her for the day when her prince comes.
- You May Also Know The Actor From Being: Suki in the upcoming “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”
Review
Our Rating: Mixed (Divisive)
On The Fence
You Appreciate What Is Given But Are Left Wanting More
If you watch one short after another, especially similar ones put together, one of the problems is, if they are too similar, it makes the first one you watch the best, and the other ones pale in comparison. That’s the problem at hand for “All I Ever Wanted” which follows “Lucky Fish.”
While you can be overjoyed for a woman-loving woman story featuring Asian characters, because Christine and Jen don’t lean into being Asian, this doesn’t stand out much beyond Christine talking in her mother’s tongue with her parents. Yes, it is wonderful to see Christine and Jen dance together and have fun, for the actresses play off one another well. But you’re left wanting more in a bad way.
After all, the art of making a short is difficult since you need to cut things off at that point where the audience doesn’t feel cheated but like they were given an appetizer. For “All I Ever Wanted,” it feels like we spend through a movie or season of a show, and thus, it is hard to not wish to know more about Christine and Jen’s relationship, where they are living in the VHS era, and all the other questions which bubble up since the short gave a little bit more than it should have.
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