Review by Jilliean Sioson
Directed by Chen Yu-Shen | Mandarin
Some days, we need a mature, thought-provoking film like Past Lives, while other days, we need one like Our Times.
Set in 2005, eighteen-year-old protagonist Truly is ‘threatened’ to forward a series of chain letters (it really is a great premise), and as a result, inadvertently leaves high school delinquent Tai-Yu in crutches. Brought together by bad luck and their shared crush on the respective partners of their school’s ‘it couple’, the two form a friendship filled with misunderstanding, teenage love, and loyalty. It’s funny to think of how Our Times and Past Lives both explore the idea of fate, but whereas one is grounded in realism, the other fuels the audience’s teenage fantasy.
Our Times is not scared of employing every cliche and trope from the romantic comedy genre, more specifically, the Asian cinema kind. It genuinely brought back core memories of fifteen-year-old me scabbing off my neighbour’s WiFi just to watch Korean dramas in 360p.
Like the classic enemy-to-lovers pipeline, the misunderstood bad boy who was once the top student, and the academically inept protagonist rebelling against East-Asian standards was the movie’s secret weapon holding it all together. That, and its sincerity. Director Chen’s care for the two leads is reflected by the movie’s two-hour and fifteen-minute run time (though I admit, there was no real reason to justify this), unfolding their inevitable chemistry and growth as friends. Moments of pure friendship and care are sandwiched between dramatic, cringy moments that seem to tick off another box from Chen’s long list of Rom-Com cliches.
In 2024, something like Our Times really shouldn’t work. It’s overplayed and overrated, yet charming and wholesome. I TRULY applaud Chen for knowing how to tastefully wield clichés to pull on my twenty-five-year-old, teenage heartstrings.
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