Educational Media Reviews Online

Muôi examines the day-to-day life of the title figure. Muôi is a single mother, a queer woman, and an aspiring hip-hop dancer in Vietnam. The film follows her in her efforts to become a professional dancer, as well as covering the challenges and setbacks she experiences in her life.

While Muôi’s pursuit of work as hip-hop dancer and artist is presented thoroughly, the second thread of the film, her struggle against the norms of Vietnamese culture, is not. It fails to establish what life is like for the average Vietnamese adult, making any contrast between Muôi’s life and that of an ‘average’ peer unclear to viewers. Muôi shares a few opinions and stories about her place in society, but the viewer has no real frame of reference to analyze her statements.

The film also shows, briefly, Muôi with her daughter, for whom she seems to be the primary caretaker. Then, for the rest of the film, we see Muôi out dancing and working late at night, on the beach in the very early morning, and on weekend trips with her partner, all without her daughter. This begs the question: does Muôi have a support system that allows her the freedom to be out of her home as she pleases? She either has more stability and support than the story indicates, or greater desperation than is presented, which results in her child left unattended.

This film is Recommended with Reservations because the story is incomplete. We learn a little about Muôi but finish the film lacking the context and further exploration needed for a more significant takeaway about her place in her society and culture.

Published and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Anyone can use these reviews, so long as they comply with the terms of the license.