Preparation for the Next Life
The Chinese-American documentarian Bing Liu turns to drama with his ambitious tale of an American solider with PTSD who meets an Uyghur immigrant in New York’s Chinatown.
Sebiye Behtiyar and Fred Hechinger
Image courtesy of MetFilm Distribution.
by MANSEL STIMPSON
When reviewing Bing Liu's fascinating documentary Minding the Gap in 2019, I remarked that the evidence it provided of his cinematic eye might well mean that he would one day choose to develop beyond the documentary sphere. Now he has done just that and Preparation for the Next Life in many ways lives up to my expectations. For material he has turned to a highly praised 2014 novel by Atticus Lish as adapted for the screen by the playwright Martyna Majok. Yet there is nothing stagey about this film which plays out for almost its entire length in New York City and features atmospheric photography by Ante Cheng using the wide screen but always maintaining an intimate feel. That is entirely apt for a tale about a young couple who meet in the city and whose subsequent relationship is so central that the other characters in the piece are all decidedly subsidiary.
Bing Liu is himself Chinese-American and is thus the ideal director to handle this story which is concerned with a Uyghur woman, Aishe, who is an illegal immigrant living in New York's Chinatown. It is in the city that she encounters an American just slightly younger than herself. He is 23-year-old Skinner who has come to New York from Virginia and has recently undergone military combat in the Middle East. When the eyes of these two meet they do so in such a meaningful way that it immediately leads to flirtatious talk that is welcome to both of them. That happens regardless of their very different backgrounds and despite the fact that Aishe's outlook is one that is not conducive to friendships. We learn that she had been only eight years old when her father, a military man, had died in circumstances never fully revealed. However, his legacy to her was to make her focus on the need for a better life and to concentrate on the effort required to obtain it. Her belief is summed up in the notion that you have to run fast if you are to make that possible.
The first section of the film concentrates on these two becoming acquainted and spending time together. There is little else to focus on so the casting here is vital and it proves to be absolutely triumphant. The strong-willed Aishe is played by Sebiye Behtiyar who is herself Uyghur and who proves to have a wonderful screen presence although this is her first role in a feature film. Equally apt is the casting of Fred Hechinger as Skinner for he plays in a manner that feels entirely true to life and suggests the vulnerability which will prove to be a key feature of his character. Both of them are people with problems. In Aishe's case it stems from the risk of being arrested because of her illegal status (that has already happened once but she had been let go) and once the prospect of marriage emerges she learns that dealing with the formalities involved might well lead to her situation being exposed. As for Skinner, we discover that he is on medication having been discharged from service with PTSD. This is a situation which denies him financial support but which also means that he can suddenly lose control, be haunted by his trauma and hit out. For these issues to emerge at one and the same time is, perhaps, a bit pat but the actors are so individual, so real, one readily accepts it.
Liu and his players bring great sympathy to this film and it appears to be getting very favourable reviews. I can in part at least fully understand that, but I do question certain aspects of it. The location shooting adds to the film’s sense of realism and consequently it feels odd that at frequent intervals throughout we hear Aishe in voice-over as though addressing her late father. Sometimes these comments reflect on her brief time with him but it is also used as a means of letting us hear what Aishe is thinking about her relationship with her lover. Similarly, despite the naturalism with which the love story is told, the film has a music score by Emile Mosseri which, although acceptable of its kind, would be more at home if the film were closer to being a conventional romantic drama.
There is a further weakness too in that letting the film run for close on two hours does eventually make it feel overlong. Admittedly there are telling sequences later on including an episode in which Aishe suddenly finds herself seized by immigration officials – a scene which is all the more powerful because of the role played by ICE agents in America in recent months. It is also the case that the film illustrates vividly the poignancy that arises from this loving couple having opposite attitudes to the problematical situation in which they are living. The continuing effects of PTSD drive Skinner into a negative frame of mind making him more ready to drink than to fight his demons. But for Aishe her father's fate has fed her determination to fight on and to make a life for herself. Early on she speaks of America as providing her next life following her days in China. But the film’s title is echoed again towards the end when she talks to a mullah who speaks of the Muslim religion encouraging good behaviour and acceptance of one’s life on earth as a means of enabling one to find peace in the next life. However, Aishe counters his comments by indicating that for her this life is the one on which she is focused and one interprets the title accordingly. But, for all the very good work to be found in Preparation for the Next Life, my final impression is of a work which had it been more compressed might well have been even more poignant. Nevertheless, the acting is absolutely first class and my rating is arguably on the harsh side.
Cast: Sebiye Behtiyar, Fred Hechinger, Alicher Adill, Dralla Aierken, Celine Cheung, Jessica Ma, Whitney Chi, Winnie Guo, Eddie Yu, Michelle Mao, Fady Kerko, Mingjie Li, Gabriel Furman, Joshua de Jesus.
Dir Bing Liu, Pro Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Screenplay Martyna Majok from the book by Atticus Lish, Ph Ante Cheng, Pro Des Kelly McGehee, Ed Anne McCabe, Music Emile Mosseri, Costumes Keri Langerman.
Orion Pictures/Pastel/Plan B Entertainment-MetFilm Distribution.
115 mins. USA. 2025. US Rel: 5 September 2025. UK Rel: 12 December 2025. Cert. 15.
