‘East Bay’ Review – How To Artistically Celebrate Failure

Creating complex, multidimensional stories about POC is the goal of multiple emerging indie filmmakers, of which many have tried to grasp the generational immigrant experience, and the pressure people exert on themselves and their children on the road to perfection. East Bay is one rollercoaster ride of fun times at second-generation immigrant land. Daniel Yoon directs a tale about a Korean American who commits the crime of being…a loser.

So what if a Korean American man in his thirties admits to being a loser? At not becoming an overachiever, successful, empowered, or empowering with an inspirational story from which the younger Korean Americans can draw wisdom? Yoon excels in creating an average guy – or less than average – Jack Lee, who fails at everything. 

Audiences meet Jack when his love life, creative outlet, and career are all in tatters. Nothing is exciting or interesting about him. That is until he meets a fascinating woman, Vivanti, a self-proclaimed spiritual leader who takes his breath away. The film is shot in a reality-style documentary and carries multiple elements from the genre, like when one of The Office guys decides to make a film about his life. The movie only tonally shifts when Kavi Ramachandran Ladnier is on screen as Vivanti. Her face is one of intensity and passion; she steals every scene she is in, and Yoon accentuates her beauty with lighting and close-ups. The interactions between Vivanti and Jack are always bathed in light and shot outdoors giving her a halo as if she is guiding him on this new journey to self-actualization and discovery.

A second-generation immigrant story is never about the immigrant, but it’s also about the family. People immigrate to Western countries to have better lives for themselves but more to see their children achieving what they’ve been deprived of. Sometimes it feels that the whole community lies on one person’s shoulder. 

For Yoon to create Lee, an insignificant slob, like so many of the tryhard white guys in films, who celebrate their nihilism and chill, underachiever attitude, is a revolutionary way of showing a Korean American character on screen, and one that makes an international critic happy to see people of color on screen free from the Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? toxic trope of the Mr. Perfect person of color.

Yoon’s film is funny but a tragic extension of the man-child trope. Men are stuck in their small worlds, unable to move forward without creating a legacy to fall back on. Men refuse to admit defeat or seek alternate routes for their maturity. What makes it stand out is the directing style, the handheld camera creates discomfort and constant interruptions which heightens the narrative. The narration carries a morbid humor that perfectly aligns with the film’s overall mood. In essence, the film is a romantic breakup drama in which the brokenhearted analyze every move of their failed relationship, every word, and how it could have been otherwise.

The truest comedies are the ones that come from genuine experience, a wild, creative mind, or a mix of both. East Bay is more than a dark comedy or an artistic project that fills the narrative loophole with masterful technique. It’s a modern commentary on stories that resonate past geographical barriers, race, and gender.

East Bay is currently available on Digital platforms courtesy of Level 33 Entertainment.