One of the Best Chinese-Language Movies of 2025

As the end of the year is getting closer, I’m trying to catch up on movies I missed, so you can expect a few more Chinese-language film recommendations from me in the upcoming months.

This time I’m recommending Shih-Ching Tsou’s (邹时擎) movie, Left-Handed Girl (左撇子女孩), which might be my favorite Chinese-language film I’ve watched this year. Shih-Ching Tsou was born and raised in Taipei and later moved to the US, where she regularly works with writer-director Sean Baker (who directed last year’s Anora). Sean Baker also shares a writing credit with Shih-Ching Tsou on this movie.

Shih-Ching Tsou’s love for Taipei clearly shines through, and watching the movie really feels like being transported to the city (at least according to my husband, who lived there for three years). The story takes you through the streets of night markets, scooter rides to betel nut shops, all beautifully shot largely on iPhones. I actually didn’t realize this while watching and only found out after I finished the film and looked it up online.

And while Taipei provides the perfect backdrop, the story is where the movie really shines, as you follow a mother and her two daughters moving back to Taipei after being away for a while. The film also has one of my favorite endings of the year, although some viewers might feel that the story ends a bit abruptly.

Most of the cast in the movie speak Mandarin Chinese, while a few speak Taiwanese (Taiwanese Hokkien).

Below you can watch the trailer, and this time I also created some flashcards on Quizlet, full of Taiwan-related vocabulary. In some regions, the movie is available on Netflix.