Review: ‘zi’ is a fascinating if floundering experiment
2026 / Dir. Kogonada
Rating: 3.5/5
Watch if you like: the director of Columbus and After Yang having an existential crisis and trying to recapture the magic.
After A Big Bold Beautiful Journey failed to make a dent with critics and audiences, director Kogonada brought a microscopic crew to Hong Kong to make a movie on the fly over a couple of weeks without a budget or script. zi works best when viewed through the lens of an artist trying to find themselves again and the unique aspect of its creation.
Part gorgeous travelogue of Hong Kong, shot by Kogonada regular Benjamin Loeb, and part Before Sunrise-style talking-and-wandering movie, zi follows Michelle Mao, a young violinist, as she waits for the results of a neurological exam after experiencing visions of herself in places and with people she’s never been or seen before. On the verge of a panic attack, she’s rescued by Elle (Haley Lu Richardson), a woman essentially cosplaying as a manic pixie dream girl instead of dealing with her heartache by wearing the worst wig you’ve ever seen, what I can only describe as a “bisexual Final Fantasy-core” outfit, and recording random sounds.
There’s quite a bit of charm and warmth to the film, which is clearly a labor of love by everyone involved, but its on-the-fly production shows its limits through a lack of narrative momentum and the sense that the actors were trying to figure out who their characters were as they filmed. Likely a transitional work for Kogonada in the long run, but certainly a fascinating experiment.