MONSOON

Hong Khaou

Henry Golding, David Tran, Parker Sawyers

In this follow-up to Lilting, Hong Khaou tackles identity and displacement through Henry Golding’s Kit, a British-vietnamese man returning to his birth country for the first time in 30 years. His family had escaped to the UK as boat refugees and though he spent the first six years of his life in Vietnam, upon arrival in Saigon, he feels like a tourist. After reconnecting with childhood friend Lee (David Tran), and becoming romantically entwined with an African-american designer, Lewis (Parker Sawyers), Kit seeks out a place to scatter his parents’ ashes. But the years have weakened his cultural bond and the task becomes a complicated one. Beautifully shot and subtly delivered, Monsoon offers a poignant picture of the emigrant experience and the post-war hangover.