"If the premise of director Eric Lin's feature debuts sounds bleak, that's because it is. Whether in the form of teachers, social services, or cultural shame, Rosemead highlights how external actors repeatedly fail Joe driven not by compassion, but by their own internalized fears, exposing the lengths to which institutions will go to protect themselves from those they deem dangerous."
"The story of Rosemead is about a teenager with mental illness just as much as it is the Asian-American community, in a rare thematic combination that showcases the challenges facing both. Irene projects a composed public front and keeps her sorrow private, reflecting a culture in which shame often wears the mask of secrecy. At a party, other Asian-American families quietly gossip behind Irene's back, raising questions about Joe seeing a psychiatrist."
The movie Rosemead follows Irene, a single Taiwanese American mother with terminal cancer, and her teenage son Joe, a star student and swimmer who develops worsening schizophrenia after his father's death. Joe experiences hallucinations, delusions and violent outbursts that intensify at school, where a shooting drill triggers symptoms and administrators advise a transfer. Cultural shame and gossip among Asian-American families complicate support, prompting Irene to conceal Joe's therapy and hide her cancer diagnosis. Care systems, teachers and social services repeatedly prioritize self-preservation over compassion, leaving Irene to navigate institutional failures while trying to protect Joe and maintain appearances.
Read at www.npr.org
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