Bing Liu (director)
(studio)
15 (certificate)
115 (length)
12 December 2025 (released)
4 d
Preparation for the Next Life is the rotten end of the hallowed ‘American Dream.’ One that exploits those who try and make their way there through migration and those born into it who fall off the rails, with no discernible safety net.
That could be one takeaway from director Bing Liu's film, adapted for the screen by Martyna Majok from Atticus Lish’s novel.
A young Uyghur woman Aishe (Sebiye Behtiyar) has left the open plains of China for the exploitative streets of New York’s illegal workforce in Chinatown. Here, well aware that they are undocumented immigrants, the bosses can do pretty much what they want regarding hours and pay. Nevertheless the ethos that her father’s military training instilled and her own willingness to better herself see Aishe through.
A casual meeting with army veteran now hobo Skinner (Fred Hechinger) leads to a on and off relationship that sees her drift through a number of jobs, while Skinner descends into alcoholism coupled with mental illness derived from his PTSD. They are at times very much in love others life is just too much with money and food problems to deal with.
They look to get married but Chinese bureaucracy proves a stumbling block. Matters are made more complicated as Skinner’s health deteriorates and the authorities catch up with Aishe.
There’s plenty to cover in Preparation for the Next Life. From the raggedness of American Dream, the treatment of the Uyghur by the Chinese and US military veterans having served their country slipping through the net into vagrancy, with just pills to see them through.
What doesn’t work quite so well – and feels stretched at nearly two hours – is the relationship between Aishe and Skinner. Its very well acted, just implausible and appears mainly to service the more political and social points, of the story if in a fairly non-didactive manner.
It’s a pessimistic (some could say cynical) story that doesn’t quite engage the way it should. What is frustrating is that there isn’t the empathy for the characters that there should be for a tale such as this to work on an emotional level.
Preparation for the Next Life will be in UK cinemas on 12 December 2025.
