Film
Permanent Record
A romance between a broke deli worker and a burnout celebrity, *Permanent Record* watches two people from opposite ends of precarity try to build something real. It's tender and aware of its own contradictions—how intimacy looks when neither person quite knows who they are. For anyone exhausted by the distance between image and reality, or anyone who's loved someone trapped in a role.
If you liked this
Eighth Grade2018
Comes from the same place of understanding how suffocating it is to exist partly in public, partly in private. Aches with recognition and never condescends to its characters, even when they're impossibly stuck.
But Very slow. The emotional payoff is quiet, not cathartic. If you need a clear three-act structure, this moves more like a essay than a plot.
Her2013
Another story about intimacy that can't quite exist in the shape either person needs. Spike Jonze finds tenderness in isolation, and there's wisdom about connection without the infrastructure for it to land.
But The sci-fi premise feels dated now and can feel precious. Some find it self-pitying rather than moving.
Certain Women2016
Three interlocking stories about women reaching toward each other and missing. Achingly quiet about longing and the gap between wanting someone and being able to have them. Beautifully shot in Montana.
But Nothing happens, in the conventional sense. Dialogue is sparse. Requires you to meet it halfway emotionally; it won't come all the way to you.
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The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Blue Valentine2010
Both track intimacy between two people from opposite worlds trying to make a shape that holds. Both are less interested in plot than in the texture of showing up for someone.
Derek Cianfrance tracks a relationship in reverse: we watch the ending first, then the beginning, then back again. It's about how love and failure are sometimes the same structure. Raw and structural in ways that match *Permanent Record*'s interest in how two people actually fit together.
But Emotionally punishing in ways that feel designed to hurt. The non-linear structure can feel gimmicky rather than earned. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams' chemistry is real but the film asks you to watch it come apart.
More like this (8)
The Florida Project2017
Set in budget motels where precarious people build community anyway. Sweet and clear-eyed about what it costs to keep hope alive when the system is designed against you. Heartbreaking without being heavy-handed.
But Watching people scrape by is hard, and the film doesn't soften that. Requires tolerance for sustained economic anxiety.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always2020
Two young women moving through a system that doesn't make room for them, learning how to protect each other. Intimate and political at once. Speaks the language of real connection under pressure.
But Structurally repetitive by design. Long takes of people sitting quietly. If you prefer forward momentum, this feels stuck.
Paterson2016
About a bus driver who writes poetry in secret, finding beauty and connection in ordinary days. Jim Jarmusch's most tender film. It trusts that small moments of grace are enough.
But Nothing much occurs. Gentle to the point of stillness. Some will find it achingly slow; others will find it perfect.
First Reformed2018
A pastor wrestling with faith, meaning, and how to connect when you're both convinced you're broken. Austere and burning with moral urgency. Paul Schrader at his most unflinching.
But Relentlessly dark about institutional failure and personal collapse. Can feel punishing rather than illuminating.
The Farewell2019
About the gap between cultures, truth-telling, and love expressed indirectly. Warm and funny but never lets you forget the weight of what's at stake. Lulu Wang finds the humanity in contradiction.
But Tone shifts between comedy and grief can feel jarring. Some want more emotional climax than the film provides.
Tangerine2015
Shot on iPhone in LA's trans underworld. Raw, funny, alive. Two women looking out for each other across a day that matters. Feels like watching real life with real stakes.
But Shot on iPhone—the image is compressed and the edit is frenetic. Sex work and addiction are persistent subjects. Not a comfort watch.
Shoplifters2018
Both are about people constructing identity and belonging outside official channels. Both trust that real connection can exist in moral grey areas. Different continents, same tenderness.
A Japanese family that isn't a family, held together by small kindnesses and survival. Hirokazu Kore-eda finds grace in precarity. It's about how love and deception coexist, how people make homes from scraps and loyalty.
But The twist recontextualizes everything you've watched, and some find it manipulative rather than moving. Slower than its premise suggests. Quiet in ways that demand patience.
Wings of Desire1987
Both stage distance as the central problem—how two people touch across the gap between them. Both suggest that the reaching is more important than arrival.
Wim Wenders' Berlin film is an angel watching human connection from outside, wondering what it means to matter. Long, poetic sequences about presence and distance. Gorgeously metaphysical about why we reach toward each other.
But Structurally loose. Black-and-white and color sequences. Philosophy over plot. If you want narrative momentum, you'll be frustrated. Some find it dated in its romanticism.
People
Directing
- Jon M. ChuDirector
Writing
- Mary H.K. ChoiNovel
- Mary H.K. ChoiScreenplay
Production
- Mary H.K. ChoiExecutive Producer
- Jon M. ChuProducer