After Yang trailer: Colin Farrell mourns a beloved A.I. in Kogonada’s new movie

As usual, the Sundance International Film Festival provoked some divisive reactions to new indie movies, with critics arguing over movies like Lena Dunham’s Sharp Stick and Riley Stearns’ Double. The acclaim was for YangThe new movie about science fiction, ColumbusKogonada was almost universal as a director and video essayist. Jodie Turner Smith stars as Jodie Turner Smith, while Colin Farrell plays Jodie Turner Smith. This trailer highlights the way the film digs into memory, grief, and identity.

In the film, based on Alexander Weinstein’s short story Yang Says Goodbye, the family purchased the “technosapien” Yang (Justin H. Min) to help raise their adopted Chinese daughter Mika by teaching her Mandarin and cultural facts. But he becomes more to them than an elaborate toy, and they don’t begin to think about his role in their lives — and the increasing evidence of his complicated inner life — until he malfunctions. It’s a quiet, heady, emotional film, beautifully observed and richly shot.

A24, a film distribution company will publish YangShowtime March 4th, in theatres and online streaming by Showtime