Writer and director Kayla Tong’s Home is Where the Sunsets hits on a common theme for many immigrants: home. Alison (April Lam) is a young woman living in Los Angeles. Her parents (Elizabeth Sung and Jim Lau) and two sisters (Candy Cheung and Cheri Lam) are visiting from Hong Kong. The short drama opens with Alison’s arrival to the claustrophobic, high energy of her apartment.
“…opens with Alison’s arrival to the claustrophobic, high energy of her apartment.”
You can see Alison’s frustration in her eyes. Alison gets into an argument with her older sister at the dinner table while her conflict-averse mother urges the two to keep eating. Not to project my own personal issues, but I also got a sense of Alison’s parents’ disappointment that she should be doing better financially or at least have a boyfriend. The story ends with a heartfelt conversation between Alison and her father just before returning to Hong Kong in the morning.
Home is Where the Sunsets runs at a brisk nine minutes. Kayla Tong does what all good storytellers should do. She allows the actions and performances to speak volumes indirectly. As Alison, April Lam shows everything that needed to be “said” about the conflict with Alison’s life with L.A. and how much she misses the comforts/security of her family and what “home” is to her today.
"…shows everything that needed to be 'said'..."
