Cultural tides threaten to tear a man’s life apart in Blue Bayou, the latest from writer/director Justin Chon.
After a troubled start that included an early adoption and run-ins with the law, Antonio has settled down. A wife and step-daughter has brought plenty of responsibility and a feeling of being home, even if the people around him don’t always treat him as the American he is. It’s a nuisance that becomes threatening when he’s picked up by ICE, caught up in a crackdown that’s greatly expanded their ability to detain and deport and that might throw him out of his own country.
When people talk about the lasting impact of the Twilight series, they rarely mention Chon. They get the flexible careers of Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart and maybe even throw in Anna Kendrick, but Chon, who appeared in nearly every movie, leveraged the series’ success into his own prolific acting career that’s recently shifted to writing and directing. His previous features, Gook and Ms. Purple, marked him as particularly sensitive to the experience of being an outsider in your own home, a theme he looks to continue with Blue Bayou.
He stars here as well (why not make great parts for yourself?), and thanks to the success of his previous features he was able to land Alicia Vikander to play his wife. Both will be key to carrying the emotions of this story, but this is Chon’s movie through and through, one that hopefully will continue his ascent.
Blue Bayou is directed by Justin Chon and stars Chon, Alicia Vikander, and Mark O’Brien. It will be released in the US on September 17th, 2021 and in the UK on December 3rd, 2021. For further release dates, click here.
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