All That We Love (2024)

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General Information

Film Length	1 Hour 30 Minutes
Date Released (Film Festival – Tribeca Festival)	June 11, 2024
Distributor	Tribeca Festival
Director(s)	Yen Tan
Writer(s)	Clay Liford, Yen Tan
Genre(s)	Comedy, Drama, LGBT+
Content Rating	Not Rated
Content Information
Characters and Cast Members
Character’s Name	Actor’s Name
Emma	Margaret Cho
Stan	Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Maggie	Alice Lee
Andy	Kenneth Choi

Plot Summary

The death of her dog, combined with her daughter Maggie leaving for Australia, has upturned Emma’s world. Add in the state of her business and her ex-husband, Andy, who abandoned her and her daughter returning from Singapore. This is a lot.

Thankfully, Stan, Maggie’s godfather, and Emma’s best friend, is there, but with him having his own issues, it’s a challenge for him to be there regarding Andy’s return, especially since he knows what Andy put Emma and Maggie through before he disappeared.

Cast and Character Guide

Emma

Emma is the editor of a home design magazine, divorced, and a mother of one. She is also a dog lover and is mourning the loss of her most recent pet.

Stan

Stan is Emma’s best friend who is just really starting to get back into the dating world after the death of his partner.

• The actor is also known for their role in “Cocaine Bear.”

Maggie

Maggie is Andy and Emma’s daughter, Stan’s goddaughter, whose plans to move to Australia are sending her mother into a conniption.

• The actor is also known for their role in “Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas.”

Andy

Andy is an actor who made it big in Singapore, but only after abandoning Emma and Maggie, who often saw the worst of him since he was a functioning alcoholic. However, with the show he was on in Singapore ending, he is back in America and trying to make amends.

• The actor is also known for their role in “9-1-1.”

Review

Our Rating: Positive (Worth Seeing)

Good If You Like

• Redemption stories
• Close mother/daughter relationships
• Close friendships

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Highlights

Kenneth Choi

With only knowing Kenneth Choi for “9-1-1,” I wasn’t prepared for what he delivered. As a recovering alcoholic, restarting his life and reconnecting not only with his ex but also his daughter, his character goes on a journey. One which has notable depth due to not only Andy having to humble himself but also navigating returning to Emma and Maggie’s world.

What especially makes his performance notable is he is working against history. With Emma, it is easier since she accepted what happened, but it isn’t clear if she has fully moved on from Andy. Maggie, on the other hand, is different.

That father-daughter relationship is complicated, and unlike Emma, with Stan in her life, she didn’t just accept his absence but also had someone to fill his role. So, to make room for him in her heart as an adult, after he not only left her life but built a whole new one in Singapore, which he also abandoned, is a lot to work through.

How It Handles Culture

It’s easy to write off any film with a predominantly non-white cast as a (insert race here) type movie. However, there are ways to do it that don’t lock you into that box. As Yen Tan noted in a post-screening Q&A, there were multiple human, everyday moments that could read Asian in a, if you know, then you know.

One example he uses is a scene where Emma tries to make peace and have everyone just sit down and eat. It’s the type of thing where, if you’re not culturally aware of it, it is just someone defusing a situation. But if you’re Asian, you get what they are doing and why they are doing it that way, and it builds a special connection that allows you to feel seen.

On The Fence

Emma and Stan’s Relationship

Let me begin by saying, there is nothing wrong regarding the chemistry between the actors here. They are believable friends, and the relationship easily could come off as the type where, to the unsuspecting eye, you could see them as intimately close. However, there is something that feels sort of generic about their dynamic, and considering Stan’s relationship with Maggie, in which he filled the role as a father figure, a part of me wonders if Emma leaned on him too?

What I mean by that is, while Emma is noted to have gone on dates, I wonder if, between her dog, Maggie, and Stan, whether her dating record was so sordid not only because of the guys but also because Stan? Yes, he is a gay man and couldn’t offer her much beyond companionship, but was he always a fallback?

Which isn’t to say Emma is obsessed with the idea of having a man, but considering how her relationship with Andy rekindles, how she handles a new dog that comes into her life, and how she treats Maggie’s boyfriend for taking Maggie away from her, there is this feeling that Maggie is leaving something unspoken about herself. Be it the thought she’d never end up divorced, perhaps fears of dying alone, or something else, maybe we’re supposed to assume rather than have spelled out.